The Troglodyte and The Scorpion
by Moonfur ADV
Summary: A normal girl returns home late one day after a stroll in the park to find a strange note pinned to her door. Reading it, she is faced with an impossible choice that will change her life forever. ON HOLD. Note: I may take down this story, please check my profile for a poll that lets you choose whether I keep it up and continue it or not. I really need more answers for the poll.
1. Chapter 1

**Character Information**

Name: Fumika Suzuki  
Nicknames: Fumi and Mika  
Gender: Female  
Age: 16  
Height: Taller than Ming-Ming but shorter than Mystel. Overall short.  
Eye Colour: Stormy Grey  
Hair Colour: Black  
Nationality: Japanese

**Bit Beast**

Name: Scorpio  
Species: Scorpion  
Element: Earth and Sand  
Attacks: Sand Stab and Earth Fissure  
Description: A giant emperor scorpion that is a purple, maelstrom colour.


	2. The Mysterious Note

The Mysterious Note

A short, 16 year old girl with black hair and stormy grey eyes ran out of her house to go and buy the bread that her mum had requested of her. Her loose hair billowing around her in the wind that she had made from her running. Leaping over the fence, she ran down the road, short legs pounding at the ground energetically. Sprinting into the bakery, she skidded to a halt at the counter. "One loaf of the usual please!" she said loudly inbetween breaths.

"Alright, alright." came the voice of a woman from behind the counter. After obtaining the bread, the girl thanked the woman and sprinted back off again. After leaping over the fence, she ran back inside and gave the bread to her mum. "Thank-you, dear. You really didn't have to run like that, Fumika."

"I know, but I like it!" She exclaimed loudly while grinning widely and running off again. Sighing, Fumika's mum put the bread on the counter and went off to wash the clothes.

"Sis! sis!" came a young boy's voice.

"What is it, Taru?" came his sister's reply.

"Look! Look!" he said as he launched a golden-yellow beyblade with red and orange markings. The blade landed on the wooden floor and spinned for about 15 seconds before coming to a stop with a small clatter. Fumika picked up the blade and praised her 8 year old brother for the new record. Walking outside into the family's small garden, Fumika reached into her black short's pocket and wrapped her fingers around a black and purple blade that lay there. With an almost inaudible sigh, she withdrew her hand with her beyblade clasped in it. Pulling out her launcher, she put her ripcord in it and put her blade on it. Without a word, she launched her blade, watching it churn up the earth as it span strongly on the grass.

Without warning, a second blade smashed into hers, causing it to bounce back slightly. Looking at the blade, Fumika saw that it was a very light, metallic pink. "Heya, Fumi!" Yelled a very familiar voice.

"Hi, Ming-Ming!" Yelled back Fumika as a short girl with vibrant blue hair jumped over the garden fence and began to focus on the beybattle now in progress. After a while, the girl named Ming-Ming suggested a walk in the park with her friend. It was a lovely Saturday afternoon so Fumika agreed. "So… Fumi, ever thought about joining a beyblade team, you are good enough, you know." Ming-Ming stated more than asked.

"Honestly, no. I haven't" Fumika's reply caused a surprised look to come from her friend. So then, a conversation revolved around that topic was ensued. A small yelp of shock came from Ming-Ming's mouth as she saw the time. After a hasty good-bye and saying something about her mum killing her, Ming-Ming ran off to her house. Fumika decided that it would be a good idea to be getting back too, so she started walking back. That walk soon turned into a jog, and with that, a run. Fumika ran all the way back home with a hyperactive grin plastered to her face the whole way.

When she arrived at home, she slammed open the door, the grin still on her face. Ashe went into the kitchen to find it empty. The living-room was empty too. The bedrooms, empty. "Hello? Anyone home?" She called out, a hint of worry tinging her voice. Walking back outside, she checked the garden. Empty. She ran back to the front door. On the door, she saw a small note pinned onto it. Carefully, she removed the pin and brought the note closer to her face to read. Once she had finished reading it, her eyes were wide with shock. The note fell from her hands and landed on the floor, fluttering away in the wind.

'Little Scorpion,  
If you ever want to see your family alive again, you'd better come to the park at 00:00 tonight. You have been warned.'


	3. Chapter 2

**Decisions and Time For Some Action!**

_'Mistress…?'_

_'…'_

_'Snap out of it!'_

_'Yeah, sure…'_

A ghost of a sigh echoed in Fumika's mind as she felt Scorpio's presence vanish. She began her walk towards the park though it wasn't even midnight yet. Her eyes were glazed and she stumbled along the path not really caring about the sharp rocks that stabbed the bottom of her sandals or the icy wind biting at her orange sleeve-less shirt. Slumping against a tree, she waited. Hours that seemed like eternity's passed, and she felt like just a spectre watching it all from the sidelines in which no-one could see her. A poke on her arm was unnoticed as she continued to watch the world go by.

"Hey, you OK?" came a voice from next to her. Slowly, she turned around and was met by a tan face that was covered with a gold coloured mask. "Hm?" she asked, not really caring or listening. "do you know someone called… um… one second," the boy said as he pulled out a piece of paper with something scrawled onto it. "Fumika Suzuki?" the masked boy asked.

"Yes, why do you want to know?" she asked, thinking it wise not to say that she was the girl he had asked about. "Well, I am here to challenge her to a battle, I think she is here but I can't find her and you were the only person I saw so…" he trailed off, leaving Fumika to reply.

"Bring it on!" she said loudly as she pulled out her blade and launcher and got into her battle stance. Shocked, the boy only nodded and pulled out his own blade and launcher. His launcher was in the form of a slingshot and his beyblade was a turquoise colour.

"3… 2… 1…"

"Let it rip!"

Their blades flew at eachother's, clashing together violently. The boy looked at her blade intently, or so it looked from the mask he was wearing. Fumika wasted no time in calling out her beast, she was feeling more and more uncomfortable by the second. "Go, Scorpio!" The majestic scorpion rose from the blade, his maelstrom-purple claws flashing menacingly in the night and his bulbous stinger raised high up in the air in a pose of hostility. The boy then smirked, making Fumika feel even worse. "Poseidon!" A mighty turquoise-blue Troglodyte-like creature rose from the blade, roaring menacingly. "Go! Ocean Javelin!" A red trident appeared in one of Poseidon's webbed hands and was flung at Scorpio. "Quick! Sand Stab!" Scorpio lunged forwards and stopped the trident with his pincers, taking minor damage. Again, the boy smirked, making Fumika finally crack. "Sand Stab!" Scorpio leaped at Poseidon, his claws surrounded by hurricanes of sand. A bright light emitted from both beasts, breaching the night's darkness as Scorpio's attack collided with Poseidon. As both bladers fell back, a huge cloud of smoke shrouding the battlefield.

As the smoke begins to clear, two motionless blades are revealed. "Well done, you pass." Fumika looks up at the boy in surprise. "What do you mean?" He just laughs. "Answer me!" She insisted loudly. 'Follow me," confused, Fumika weighs her options.

_'I have no-where to go, but is this really a good idea?'_

As if he had read her mind, the boy says "Look, I promise I won't hurt you, if it is of any help, my name is Mystel." Fumika looks at him for a while before nodding, picking up her blade and pocketing it.

Then, Mystel starts leading her away from the park, away from her home, and possibly away from her life.


	4. Chapter 3

**Questions and Answers**

Fumika and Mystel were currently in a forest not too far from their (more like Mystel's) destination. It was early morning and Fumika was tired, though she did her best to hide it. "We can rest if you want," Fumika just shook her head in response. Mystel eyed her for a moment and then turned back around, focusing on the road in front of them. slipping a hand into her black short's pocket and pulled out her phone. She never really used it, but she was told to keep it around in case of anything. Mystel quickly turned round and looked at her. She guessed he was wondering about why she had brought out her phone. Did he think she would call someone for help? To give them a location?

"I'm only telling my friend that I won't be around for a while, I came willingly, didn't I?" Her only reply was a nod. Sighing, she dialled Ming-Ming's number. The phone was picked up on the fourth ring.

"Ming?"

"Yeah?"

"Erm… I won't be around for a while, I have… things to do…"

"Oh, ok. Don't worry, I won't be around for a while too. Holidays are starting soon so school won't really be a problem. Call me if you need anything, OK?"

"Yeah… sure, see you."

And with that, the call was ended and Fumika and Mystel continued walking.

They arrived at a city the very next day, Fumika knew that this was the city in which the BBA operated in. Well, now she thinks it is the BEGA who worked here but she wasn't too sure. Mystel then led her into a massive building that had the BEGA logo on the front of the building.

_'So it is the BEGA after all…'_

They had now come to the front of a door, probably leading into an office of some kind. "Go in, I'll wait out here." Fumika looked at Mystel, who just looked back. Hesitatingly, she knocked on the door. A dark, foreboding voice answered her. "Enter." It commanded. Fumika cautiously opened the door and walked inside. The door closed behind her, making her jump like a wary, caged animal. On the other side of the desk was a man, sitting behind a desk with a stony expression, an evil grin ghosting around his lips. "I knew you would come, Scorpion." The penny dropped. Fumika gaped at the purple haired man in front of her. An overwhelming feel of hostility engulfed her and threatened to tip her over the edge if provoked any further.

"It was you! What have you done with them?!" Her rage was quickly building up beyond restrainable limits. An evil cackle was her only answer. "Answer me!" She was going to snap. "Oh yes… Them," he drawled. "Don't worry, you can save them, on one condition." His voice made her sick. "You said that they would be OK if i went to the park at midnight, and I did!"

'Ah, yes, of course. You should know better than to believe that I would honestly do that. No, they live and go free, if, you join my beyblade team and promise not to go back to them." Fumika froze. He couldn't be serious! He couldn't! Oh, but he was.

"Urgh… Fine! Just… don't harm them and let them go." She bowed her head in defeat.

"Good, they will be released at once. now, go and meet your teammates. I believe you have already met Mystel." Though it wasn't a question, Fumika nodded, her voice was probably too broken for a verbal response, though she would have given him a physical one if she wasn't so broken. "W… w… who are you?" She croaked out weakly.

"My name is Boris but you must refer to me as 'sir' unless you enjoy painful consequences." With a final nod, Fumika walked out of the office, walking past Mystel as if he wasn't there. "Hey, what's wrong?" She didn't hear him. She just continued to walk. Ironically, the song 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' echoed faintly in her head.


	5. Chapter 5

**Surprise, Surprise and The First Few Days With The Team**

Fumika had been assigned a dormitory on the same floor as her new team's. As she walked in, she let out a sigh, closed the door, and flopped down onto the bed, burying her face in the pillow. Raising her head a few moments later, she looked around her room. The walls and the ceiling were a plain white colour and the floor was made of wooden planks. A desk, chair, cupboard and bed were the only pieces of furniture in the room. There was a door that she assumed led to the bathroom. A small knock on the door broke her musings. "It's open." What she saw made her stomach do some astounding acrobatics and her heart stop for a few seconds. Her breath hitched in her throat. "Ming-Ming…?"

"Oh, Fumi! So you are here after all!" She said and grinned. Fumika could only stare at her friend as she closed the door while saying "You gotta come to training now!" Fumika could only gape at the now closed door. Slowly, she got up and made for the door, opened it, and started to walk around the building.

_'Now… where am i supposed to go for training?'_

_'I sense the other beasts nearby, it's three doors to the left.'_

Mentally thanking Scorpio, Fumika opened the door and walked in quietly. "Oh there you are, Fumi! I thought that you had gotten lost or something," Ming-Ming's voice echoed off the walls of the gym. Wincing slightly, Fumika turned her gaze to her friend. "Come on!" Ming-Ming ran to a beydish and went to one side of it, preparing her blade and launcher. Silently, Fumika made her way to it and got out her own blade and launcher.

After the countdown, both blade were released simultaneously. Scorpio and Venus collided, the sound of grinding metal and sparks pierced the silence. "Sooo… I thought you didn't really think about joining a team, why did you join one now!" This did it. She didn't notice the figures that entered the room. She didn't hear Ming-Ming asking what was wrong. She only felt her own rage boiling over the edge. "Earth Fissure!" This attack hadn't been completely mastered yet. The ground started to crack, making Venus fall into one of the crevices. Still, Scorpio held his ground, determined to control the final attack. Fumika's rage was feeding the attack's power, causing several shouts to echo around the room. After a while, the violent attack subsided to reveal Venus stilled down an enormous breach on the floor and Scorpio also motionless. It didn't look like he had been damaged too much and that she could fix it so Fumika picked up her blade and pocketed it.

"What the hell was that?!" came a voice. A few other voices replied with groans as four figures were seen getting up from the floor. A fifth figure walked in, he was wearing a BEGA jacket and some red shades. Upon seeing the state of the room, he stops. Fumika looked at the people in the room. A large man with a strange white mark on one side of his face was sitting on the floor, looking around in shock. Mystel was sitting on a chunk of floor that had been raised up slightly by the attack, a martial-artist looking guy was looking around at the destruction and a guy with ginger-orange hair was surveying the whole scene calmly, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

"What… did you do?" Ming-Ming's voice was very quiet all of a sudden.

"I finished the battle." Was Fumika's response as she started to walk over to the exit.

"Not so fast," the martial-artist guy's voice made Fumika's walk slow down, but not stop. "I said, stop." Fumika turned around and looked at the green-shirted man. She tilted her head to a side. "What in the world did you just do?" Sighing, Fumika decided to explain just to get it over with. "I called out Scorpio's final attack, which we didn't have complete control over." A pair of wide-eyes met her answer. "Guess we're going to have to use a different gym until this one is repaired." stated the man with the red shades. Ming-Ming quickly turned to Fumika. "Hey Fumi, you don't know these guys yet, do you?" Without waiting for her friend's reply, Ming-Ming continued. "This is Garland," she pointed at the martial-artist guy, who just grunted in response. 'Possibly still annoyed at me for destroying the gym.' Thought Fumika. "This is Crusher," she continued, gesturing towards the heavily-built man with the strange white markings on his face. He smiled in response. Fumika smiled back and Ming-Ming pointed at Mystel. "This is Mystel," he nodded in her direction to show that he had acknowledged what Ming-Ming had said. "This is Brooklyn," she waved her hand towards the boy with the orange hair. He smiled at her somewhat lazily, the amusement still in his eyes. "Oh, right! This is our coach, Hiro." He only looked back at Fumika when she looked at him. Feeling slightly uncomfortable, Fumika looked away.

The rest of the day passed slowly, the training was hard and when Fumika got back to her room, she collapsed on the bed.

_'Mistress, you should eat, you've hardly done so since…'_

_'I know, I know! Just… don't worry.'_

And with that, Fumika got up and opened the small window in her room. It was a small window but the again, Fumika was a small person. She looked out of the window and realised that she was on the third floor. Expertly, she slipped out of the window and balanced herself precariously on the small window-sill. She heard a faint knock on her door but she ignored it. Fumika was a very agile girl, she loved to run and could even do a little bit of free running and parkour. skilfully scaling down the side of the building, she eyed the night around her.

Lights adorned the city. Some would say that it was beautiful, but Fumika just thought about the animals that couldn't sleep in the light. Slightly saddened, Fumika broke off into a run. running made her feel free, alive, without limits. She ran and ran, and before she realised she had ran all the way back to her house. With a slight widening of her eyes, she sprinted back off, into the park. Exhausted, she fell onto a bench and sat there, panting. "You're not supposed to be here." A figure emerged from the shadows. Swiftly adopting her fighting stance, Fumika glared at the shape. A glint of gold caught her eye. 'Mystel?" A smirk was her only reply. Tensing again, Fumika pulled out her blade.

"Woah, woah. I'm not going to hurt you." Fumika was not convinced. Her lips pulled back slightly into a snarl. A menacing hiss came from her blade, Scorpio's protective aura surrounded his mistress. Surprised, Mystel backed off a few paces. "We're a team now, I'm not supposed to fight you!" A low growl was the answer he obtained. Unnerved, he stepped back, trying not to provoke her. "Fine, whatever…" her answer sounded distant. Her blade was back in her pocket along with her launcher and her back was turned. The rustle of leaves indicated someone's arrival. "Hello? Anyone there?" Fumika froze, before leaping up into a tree and crouching on one of the branches, as still as a statue. Confused, Mystel followed suit and jumped up into the tree, sending her what looked like a questioning look through his mask.

Shaking her head, she signalised for him to be quiet. Nodding, he turned his head back to the park. A man that looked to be about 45 emerged from the dark and sat down on the bench that Fumika had been laying on a few minutes ago. The man's black hair was all ruffled up and a distant look decorated his brown eyes as he stared off into the distance.

'That looks like the look Fumika had when she was at the park last night,' thought Mystel as he looked at the man. A sad sigh escaped the man's lips as a miserable look passed over his face. Turning back to Fumika, Mystel saw her looking like a mirror image of the man. Her stormy grey eyes distant and unbearably sad. "Dad…" her barely audible voice made him look at her in surprise. "He is your dad, shouldn't you go and speak to him?" At this, Fumika turned away, she wanted to run away, but she couldn't or her dad would see her and Boris would…

Feeling guilty, Mystel turned back to look at the man. "Why, Mika. Why? You didn't have to," the man said to no-one in particular. OK, now, he was confused. "Fumika?" He whispered.

"What?" She hiss-whispered.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"Oh…" now, he felt terrible.

A few minutes later, Fumika's dad left and Fumika jumped down from the tree and then ran off. Having followed her here after she hadn't answered the door, Mystel knew that she had run all the way here so he ran after her. He was surprised by her ability to run for so long, so fast.

Eventually, they got to the building, said their goodbye's and parted ways. After having entered her room through the window and closing it, she collapsed onto her bed and fell asleep almost instantly, the sound of her stomach growling unheeded.

Everything was shaking violently as she opened her eyes. "Huh?"

"It's me, sleepyhead!"

"Ming?"

"Yeah! Get up, or else you don't get food before training!" At this, Fumika leapt out of bed.

"I haven't eaten since breakfast, two days ago!"

"Well, come on then!" With this, Ming-Ming and Fumika went down to the lunch hall. After quickly swallowing their breakfast, the BEGA team headed back down to one of the gyms, where Hiro was waiting for them. "OK, Fumika, since you are the newest member of our team, I need to see what you are capable of." A few uneasy glances were shared around the team. "Fumika, you can go against…" Everybody minus Fumika held their breath. "Garland." Four sighs of relief were heard along with a little strangled noise coming from Garland. Fumika and Garland took their places around the beydish, launching their blades simultaneously.

"Go Apollon!" Garland's griffin-like beast rose from the blade, screeching a battle cry and charging at Scorpio. "Scorpio, stop him!" Fumika's majestic, maelstrom-purple emperor scorpion rose from the blade, adopting a defensive stance. Apollon's attack collided with Scorpio, sending the blade bouncing back a bit. Hissing, Scorpio awaited his mistress' command. "Go! Sand Stab!" Scorpio leaped at Apollon, two tornados of sand surrounded Scorpio's pincers as he snapped them at his opponent. "Quick Apollon, Radiant Thunder!" But, before Apollon could use the attack, Scorpio smashed into him, sending the blade skittering back a little. "Again, Radiant Thunder!" Garland's golden-yellow blade started to let off an outstanding amount of light, blinding everyone in the room. When the little sparks of light finally disappeared, Fumika was lying on the floor but her blade continued to spin, although a little shakily. Garland and his blade were still standing.

Staggering up, Fumika saw Scorpio still spinning strongly, determined to not let down his mistress. Fumika was about to unleash the Earth Fissure attack when Hiro told them to stop. Scorpio flew back to his mistress' hand and from there she pocketed him.

_'Well done, Scorpio.'_

_'Thank-you, mistress.'_

Fumika was about to reply when she was told to switch out with Ming-Ming, who would be facing off against Crusher. Sighing, Fumika sat down on the edge of the bench, away from everyone else. She felt the weight shift from under her when someone sat next to her. "Hi," Brooklyn's voice pierced her thoughts. "Huh? Oh, hi." She felt Brooklyn shift to face her completely. "You know, if you don't like this team, you could always leave." He told her with a hurt look in his eyes. Fumika turned to look at him, shocked. "No, no. You don't understand, you guys are friendly and anyway, I can't leave." Curiosity sparked in Brooklyn's eyes as he asked "Why can't you leave?" Fumika looked away.

"That… doesn't matter." Noticing the change in her, Brooklyn decided to change the subject. "So… what is your bit-beast's name and element?" Fumika eyed him suspiciously, narrowing her eyes. "Don't worry, we're on the same team now."

"Scorpio, Earth and Sand."

"Cool! Mine is Zeus," Fumika just nodded in response. Brooklyn and Fumika (more Brooklyn than Fumika) chatted like this for a while and then Brooklyn was called up for practice and Fumika was left alone again.

"What's wrong, Fumi? You used to be so hyper and cheerful…"

"The key word is 'used to', Ming."

"What happened?"

"Nothing! Nothing happened!" Thinking it wise to stop asking, Ming-Ming went off to chat with the rest of her team. Soon, it was lunch-time and the team headed off towards the canteen, Fumika walking a few metres behind the chatting group. She wasn't hungry but Ming-Ming insisted that she ate, so she picked up a bit of bread and sat down to eat it.

_'A short, 16 year old girl with black hair and stormy grey eyes ran out of her house to go and buy the bread that her mum had requested of her. Her loose hair billowing around her in the wind that she had made from her running. Leaping over the fence, she ran down the road, short legs pounding at the ground energetically. Sprinting into the bakery, she skidded to a halt at the counter. "One loaf of the usual please!" she said loudly inbetween breaths._

_ "Alright, alright." came the voice of a woman from behind the counter. After obtaining the bread, the girl thanked the woman and sprinted back off again. After leaping over the fence, she ran back inside and gave the bread to her mum. "Thank-you, dear. You really didn't have to run like that, Fumika."_

_"I know, but I like it!" She exclaimed loudly while grinning widely and running off again. Sighing, Fumika's mum put the bread on the counter and went off to wash the clothes.'_

Gasping slightly, Fumika got up and left the table, the bread lying on the table, forgotten. "What's wrong with her?" Crusher asked, a bit of worry in his voice. Sighing, Ming-Ming shock her head. "She'll be at training, lets go." Nodding, the team finished their meal and headed off towards the gym.

Training continued as usual, Fumika deciding not to use the Earth Fissure attack until it was completely perfected. After dinner and their final training session of the day, Fumika went outside into the outdoor training area. Pulling out her blade and launcher, she released Scorpio onto one of the beydishes. "Go Scorpio! Earth Fissure!" Once again, the ground began to shake and small ravines were carved out into it. Cracks and crevices spread all over the ground. But, the attack soon pushed beyond Scorpio and Fumika's control, sending the blade to a stop with a clatter. Sighing and picking up her blade, Fumika tried again. And so, four hours of this passed in vain. With a final sigh, Fumika picked up her blade and went back to her room for the night.

What she hadn't noticed, was that a glimmer of gold had been in the trees all along. Watching her. Now, this person was even more confused and sad for her than before.


	6. Chapter 6

**An Unexpected Visitor**

The whole week passed in pretty much the same way. Breakfast, training, lunch, training, dinner, training and then an extra hour of practicing her final attack and then sleep, of course. She got along with everyone well enough, but usually stayed away from them, even Ming-Ming.

"Fumi!" Yelled Ming-Ming for the millionth time as Fumika cough-sneezed for, also, the millionth time. "S (cough) orr (sneeze) y," was Fumika's reply. "That's it! You're going to the infirmary, now!" With that, Ming-ming proceeded to drag Fumika off the table and towards wherever the infirmary was.

"Guys…?" Mystel was the first to break the silence.

"Yes?" Brooklyn replied, eyeing his friend questioningly.

"Have you noticed that… whenever you mention Fumika's… family, she changes, she goes all sad and unresponsive?" Mystel's question sparked interest in the team. He then told them about the time in the park, when her dad was there. Brooklyn then added the time in which he was talking to her on the bench. As the team continued to muse over this Ming-Ming returned. "I left miss I've-got-a-cold-and-I-didn't-know-it at the infirmary. Hey, what are you all talking about?" After a few mumbles and stutters from the rest of the team, Garland answered, "we were just wondering why Fumika goes all quiet and unresponsive when we ask her about her family." Ming-Ming looked thoughtful for a while before saying

"Well then, lets find out! I think that she would feel better talking to you guys if we interacted with her more, i feel so bad now. She hardly speaks to me anymore! She used to be so cheerful and friendly. Something must have happened to make her change, we have to help her!" The rest of the team nodded in agreement and set off to get to training.

Fumika was sitting on the training room's bench when she felt the weight on the bench increase as someone sat down next to her. "Heya, Fumika." Brooklyn greeted her while peering at her. "Hi." Was the only reply she gave.

"Are you OK?" It was obvious that she wasn't, but he needed to start a conversation somehow. She didn't know whether to lie or to tell the truth, so she stayed silent. Gingerly, Brooklyn put a hand on her shoulder and said, "we are a team so we help each other." Again, Fumika stayed silent. "Your turn, Fumika. You will be facing off against Crusher."

"Yes, coach." Getting up, Fumika went over to the dish. Launching her blade after the countdown, she watched the dish intently. Crusher's rosy-red blade circled her's menacingly. Unfazed, Fumika called out her beast. Scorpio stood proud and tall, his scaly skin flashing dangerously in the room's light. Hissing and spitting, he lunged at Crusher's beast, Gigars. "Go! Sand Stab!" Gigars wobbled upon impact, dangerously close to the edge of the dish. Scorpio smashed into Gigars at full force, knocking him out of the dish, ending the match.

"Good game," Crusher smiled while holding out a hand. Hesitantly, Fumika took it with a nod and they shook hands. Sitting back down on the bench, Fumika was approached by Ming-Ming. "Hi!" Her friend's high pitched voice spoke.

"Hi." At this, Ming-Ming's face fell slightly.

"You OK?" The only answer she got was a slight nod. Not convinced, Ming-Ming decided to prod a little. "Are you sure? You're not are you?" Silence met her questions. This convinced Ming-Ming that something was definitely wrong.

Suddenly, the building's speakers crackled into life. Boris' voice barking out of them for all to hear. "The following announcement is very important and I expect you all to listen and obey. We are having a visitor here, he should arrive in a few minutes. If he mentions anyone by the name Fumika Suzuki, say that you do not know them. Suzuki, you should do well to stay away from our guest. Ah yes, the guest's name is Mamoru Suzuki, treat him with utmost respect or face the consequences." With that, the speakers buzzed one last time before going dead.

Fumika stood as still as a statue. Her father was coming to the BEGA Building? And she was supposed to hide from him the whole time? This was going to be difficult. Her teammates looked at her, waiting for her to say something. A few moments later, Fumika was racing down the building's corridors. Ignoring her teammate's cries echoing from somewhere behind her. When she had gotten to her room, she quickly opened the window and leapt outside, climbing down the side of the building as fast as she could without falling. As she passed one of the windows, she saw her father and Boris. Her father had his back to her and Boris was turning around to show him something. With a small gasp she let go of the wall, plummeting past the window before they could see her. Luckily, she managed to control her fall enough to land in a tree.

Unfortunately, Ming-Ming had followed her and was now dragging her off to the building. Eventually, she was thrown onto her bed by her friend. "Lets go say hi to your dad, you probably haven't seen him in a while." This made terror engulf Fumika.

"N… n… no, you heard what Boris said." Ming-Ming just gave a nonchalant shrug and resumed her friend-dragging.

As they arrived at the room in which Boris and Mamoru were in. Ming-Ming tried to push Fumika through the door as the latter tried to escape, finally succeeding by jumping out of a nearby window. She scaled up the outside wall, finally reaching the roof and laying down for a rest on it. Ming-Ming couldn't get to her so she was safe. The sound of voices reached her ears as she made them out as Boris' drawl and her father's questions about BEGA. She quickly swung off the edge of the roof, dangling from it by just her hands. She heard their footsteps while holding her breath, scared that the very sound of her breathing or her heart beating would give her away.

A figure had leaped up beside her, also dangling from the building. "Fumika?"

"Shh! Mystel!" She whisper-shouted.

"Oh sorry, why are you here, do you need some help?" Fumika was silent, lefting her teammate hear the voices. "Is that your father with Boris?" A nod was the response she gave. Silence hung heavily like fog over the next few minutes. Fumika's grip was starting to slip.

_'Boris must know that I'm here or else he wouldn't stay up here for so long. Is he waiting for me to fall?'_

_'Hang in there mistress'_

Scorpio's voice soothed her mind slightly but not completely. Mystel didn't seem to be having as much trouble and actually seemed to be enjoying hanging from the building. Again, Fumika felt her grip slip. Still, Boris and Mamoru remained, one possibly knowing that she was there, struggling to keep the grip that held her away from falling. Straining to keep her grip, she hears footsteps coming her way. Biting her lip, she hears her father's voice "Hey, I think I see something over there." The steps got louder. Finally making up her mind, she lets go and begins to plummet towards the ground.


	7. Chapter 7

**Explanations**

Mystel's yelp of surprise was the last thing she heard before the sound of the wind around her becomes to loud for her to hear anything but it. Her orange sleeve-less shirt and black shorts flapped around wildly as she continued to fall.

_'Mistress! What were you thinking?!'_

_'I had to!'_

Fumika heard Scorpio sigh.

_'I can help stop the fall, so you don't die.'_

Scorpio commented dryly. A dark purple aura surrounded Fumika, slowing her downwards plummet. A sharp pain erupted in her back as she made contact with the ground. Blackness pressed on the edges of her conscience, her blurry vision giving way to darkness.

Opening her eyes, Fumika quickly closed them again as they were hit by a bright light. Everything was silent so she assumed she was the only one there. Eyes squeezed shut, she felt around. She assumed that she was laying on a bed, her back hurt and there seemed to be a bandage around it.

_'I think I'm in the hospital area,'_

She reached out in her mind to try and find Scorpio's presence. Though faint, it was still there.

_'Thank-you, Scorpio'_

She felt his acknowledgement echo faintly in her mind before he went back to resting. Just then, she heard voices coming from outside. "And this, is the Hospital Room. I think there is only one person there today, though, there are usually none." Fumika knew this was a lie meaning that Boris was out there but she continued to listen nonetheless. The voice that replied caused her to open her eyes in shock but then close them again, due to the light. It was her father! Upon impulse, she reached out, trying to find a window or something that would allow her to escape. The door clicked open. Finding no other means of escape, Fumika pulled the covers over herself, trying to hide under them. The footsteps neared. Fumika held her breath. "Oh, who might you be?" Opening her eyes and widening them, ignoring the light that stung at them, Fumika weighed her options. Pretending to be asleep, Fumika stayed still, slowing her breathing until it looked like she was actually asleep. She felt her father's hand on her head.

"Are you alright?" Fumika continued to 'sleep'. She heard a sigh as her father got up and walked out with Boris. Letting out an enormous breath, she relaxed a little. Sleep overcame her as she drifted off.

Fumika woke up to the sound of voices. Rubbing her eyes, she tried to sit up. She was pushed back down harshly. Hissing in pain, she looked up. Ming-Ming's face peered at hers. "She woke up!" The voices that answered were all mixed up in Fumika's head as she tried to sit up again. This time, she was literally smashed back down onto the bed. "You need to rest, so stay down!" Ming-Ming's voice made it into her head. Grumbling in response, Fumika didn't dare to stand up again. As her sight began to adjust, she made out the faces of her teammates and coach.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Hiro's voice made a small spark of panic crackle inside of her. Mystel must have told them what had happened. Only a small, strangled noise made its way out of her mouth. "I just slipped, that's all." When she finally managed to say that, she was met with unbelieving stares. "I'm sorry Fumika, but I don't think you fell by accident."

_'Thanks, Mystel.'_

Thought Fumika sarcastically. "Yeah! A fall like that would have killed you!" Garland sounded worried and extremely annoyed. "I think you owe us an explanation. No-one in their right mind would throw themselves off of a building like that." Brooklyn told her.

"Well maybe I'm not in my right mind." Fumika's attempt at a joke was dismissed by Ming-Ming when she yelled "I've known you ever since we were 5, you were never like this!" Sighing, Fumika reached out to Scorpio in her mind.

_'Should I tell them?'_

_'That is up to you, mistress.'_

Before she had enough time to reply, Scorpio's presence faded from her mind and she was left to answer her teammate's questions. Their impatient stares made her feel uneasy. "Ok, ok… I'll tell you. It all began when…" And so, Fumika told them about the note she found when she returned to her home after the walk with Ming-Ming. When she met Mystel at the park. When Boris threatened her with the life of her family. When she hid from her dad at the park with Mystel and finally, when she let go of the building. Her explanation was met by shocked gazes. The whole team, minus Fumika, felt extremely guilty. It was a few minutes before anyone dared to say anything.

"Wait a minute, so that was why you fell from the building? To save your family's lives? Did you even stop to consider your own?" Mystel's barrage of questions made into Fumika's ears as a jumbled up mess of gibberish. "How did you survive?" Hearing Crusher's question, she answered. "Scorpio helped slow down the fall, but I still got knocked out. That reminds me, please don't tell Boris about this, I don't think I was allowed to tell you, but… I think he knew that I was hanging from the roof. I think he stayed up there for so long, waiting for me to fall." Apart from a small gasp from Ming-Ming, everyone stayed silent. Seeing as no-one was going to say anything, Fumika continued. "What happened after the fall?" At this, Mystel spoke up.

"After you started to fall, I climbed down and brought you to the hospital room, they said that you hadn't broken anything but your back has been bruised pretty badly. They also said that you should be up in about 3-4 days." Nodding, Fumika turned her gaze to the ceiling and sighed. A few seconds later, she felt her eyelids drooping. And with that, she fell into a dreamless sleep.

Reality's misty arms wrapped around her, dragging her out of her dreamless, sleeping world. Opening her eyes slowly until they were slits, her gaze was met by the hospital room's white ceiling. "Heya…" turning her head slightly, she saw Brooklyn.

"Hi,"

"How're you feeling?"

"Better."

"Hmm." They sat (lay in Fumika's case) in silence for a while. Brooklyn tried to start a conversation revolved around blading. "So… what do you like about blading?"

"I'm not too sure, maybe because it's fun or it's a way of getting to know Scorpio better," And so, their conversation continued. Fumika found Brooklyn very easy to get along with and the two chatted for ages. "I need to go train now, I'll try and visit you more often, Fumi." With that Brooklyn left. Fumika was a little surprised at his use of her nickname, but hey, she wasn't complaining.

During lunch, Garland came to visit her. "Hey there, Fumika." She just looked at him, unsure of what to say. He was obviously still annoyed with her for doing something as 'reckless' as jumping off the top of the BEGA Building. "I'm sorry, Garland. My intentions were not bad." Garland looked at her in surprise.

"Then why? Why did you throw yourself off, with no regard for your own life?" Fumika sighed mentally and explained it to him again. "It was either me or my entire family, what would you have chosen?" This caused him to go silent.

"I know that was a rhetorical question but… I would have chosen the same as you, thank-you for shedding light on my questions." Fumika nodded in response and they just stayed there in a comfortable silence. After a while, Garland broke the silence by saying, "I think I now hold a lot more respect for you, Fumi." Shocked, Fumika looked at him.

"Th… th… thank-you." Garland nodded and left for training.

Ming-Ming came to visit her at dinner and they chatted for a while before parting to get some sleep. Fumika was unable to sleep, so she lay on her side, facing the wall, awake. She looked like she was asleep, but she was actually just laying there, listening to the silence in the room. The small creak of a door opening shattered the silence, causing Fumika to become alert. Footsteps approached her achingly slowly. Putting up her best pretence of being asleep, Fumika waited. She heard whoever it was slump down onto the chair that was next to her bed for visitors. A sigh emitted from the person.

Curiously, she opened her eyes a crack and slowly slid her pupil to the edges, trying to see who it was. All she caught was flash of aquamarine blue. Confused, she pretended to shift in her sleep, now slightly facing the person. Cautiously, she opened her eyes until they were slits. What she saw almost made her gasp and widen her eyes in surprise, luckily for her she managed to keep up her façade. It was Mystel! It didn't look like he had realised that she was awake. Finally being able to see him without the mask, she saw that his eyes were a brilliant aquamarine-blue colour. Those eyes, though, were now filled with guilt and sadness. Slipping into the world of unconsciousness, the last thing she saw was Mystel get up and leave. That night, she fell asleep feeling extremely confused.


	8. Chapter 8

**Recovering, Easy, Or Is It?**

A sharp pain in her back violently shocked Fumika awake. Gritting her teeth together, she blinked rapidly, trying to adjust her vision. Gripping her arm tightly, was Boris. "Huh? Why are you here Bo- I mean, Sir?"

"Is that any way to greet your master?" He tightened his grip on her arm. Wincing Fumika turned to face him.

_'Master? Since when was he my master?'_

The hospital room door swung open, revealing Fumika's teammates. "Erm… Sir?"

"Yes?" Boris' hiss made Ming-Ming want to take back what she had just said.

"What is going on here?" All of them sighed in relief, Hiro had arrived just in time. Boris looked at Hiro and snarled. "You follow my orders, how dare you question me?" Meeting Boris' gaze evenly, Hiro remained in silence. Frustrated, Boris left.

Sighing quietly in relief, Fumika relaxed slightly. "We are going to be running laps outside, do you think that you are OK for it?" At this, Fumika perked up visibly.

"Sure!" Throwing her covers back, she got up, winced slightly and ran outside while yelling "I'll see you outside!"

"Now that's more like the Fumi I know!" Ming-Ming said loudly while running out to join her friend. This made the others feel more cheerful. Brooklyn walked out after them, then Mystel and Garland, and finally Crusher along with Hiro.

When they all got outside, they saw Fumika running around the tracks, a massive grin plastered over her face. "That's Fumi for ya, she adores Freerunning and Parkour but her real passion is running, get ready to meet the true Fumika!" With that, Ming-Ming ran off towards the tracks and began to run. Grinning, the team followed her and began to run. Even Hiro ran with them a little, what could he say? Fumika's energy was contagious.

By the end of the day, they were all completely exhausted, but smiling all the same. After their final part of training, they had all sat down in the lobby and were now idly chatting about blading and subjects related to it. "I've heard that there's going to be a tournament in Russia in a month or so, do you think we could enter?" Brooklyn's question sparked interest among his teammates . "Do you think that Boris would let us?" The whole group went quiet, pondering garland's question. "If we're lucky…" Mystel began.

"Then maybe…" Crusher continued.

"We would just be allowed!" Finished Fumika, grinning wildly.

"Who should ask him?" Ming-Ming's question was met with everyone glancing around the room, looking for someone that could get the job done. "Maybe we should convince Hiro first." Mystel's point caused another array of pointy stares. Sighing, Fumika piped up.

"I'll ask Hiro tomorrow, OK?" Vigorous nods received her proposition.

The next day, she went to training as usual, doing what she could to ignore the pain from the bruises on her back. Scorpio was feeling slightly better though he needed another day or so to get back to normal. "Erm… coach?" Hiro turned to face her, showing that he was listening. "Well, I'm sure that you've heard about the tournament in Russia… well… we were wondering if… we could, you know, go?" An amused smile was the only response she got. Holding her breath, she waited for his decision. Chuckling lightly, he answered, "I was thinking of entering you guys anyway, it isn't a major tournament so why not? I'll enter the team in tonight, it's in a month so you'd better get training."

"Right! Yes, coach!" With that, Fumika ran off towards the beydishes, launching Scorpio into one. "OK, lets focus, we need to master this attack. Go Scorpio! Earth Fissure!" Once again, the ground started to shake, chunks of it smashing into the gym's walls. Crevices and cracks began to spread across the floor, like small ravine-like cracks running through ice. Struggling to keep control, she continued to stand her ground. Her bandages were peeling off from under her shirt. Clenching her teeth together as she felt new cuts being carved around the bruises on her back, she kept her determination, trying to keep her final attack under control.

Large scraps of her bandaging were flying around, and more kept on coming to join them. Fumika felt her strength faltering, threatening to leave her completely. She could also feel Scorpio's energy disappearing.

_'I cannot hold on much longer, mistress!'_

_'I know! Try to slow down the attack enough to stop!'_

The ground's shaking slowed a little, giving Scorpio enough time to gain a little control over it, eventually stopping it completely. Feeling drained, Fumika fell onto her knees, her beyblade lying motionless a meter and a half away from her. Looking up, she saw her teammates looking at her worriedly, shocked looks still on their faces. Grinning, she felt her stormy-grey eyes begin to cloud over, her vision becoming foggier and foggier every passing second. "Don't you dare black out on us, Fumi!" Her grin faded as she glanced at Ming-Ming, trying to stay awake. Falling forward, her chest came into contact with the cracked, wooden floor, sending pain shooting through her body. She felt the wood piercing her skin as she struggled to keep conscious.

She heard the slurred sound of footsteps entering the room. The next few seconds happened very quickly. First, she saw Boris' face flash before her, quickly being replaced by a flash of red as a hand closed around her throat, pinning her to the wall. Unable to breath, she cast her blurry gaze downwards, to be met by Boris' stony glare. Gasps echoed around the room as one by one, they realised that Fumika wasn't able to breath. "If you truly care about your family, I advise that you perfect that attack before the tournament." With that, he let go of her throat and walked out. Crumpling to the ground, the last thing Fumika felt was her teammates' rushing towards her before a torrent of darkness swept over her senses.

Again, a white, piercing light met her eyes as she opened them. Shutting them again, she lay completely still. A small rustling sound next to her caused her to tense up and become wary. "Calm down, it's only us." Brooklyn's voice drifted into her head, causing her to relax slightly. Suddenly remembering Boris' threat, she sat bolt upright and tried getting up. This time, Ming-Ming took a slightly gentler approach than last time and lightly pushed her back down. "I need to go and practice the attack, let me go!" Her teammates just shook their heads and moved closer to her bed, stopping her from escaping.

Smirking deviously, she turned to the small window next to her bed and quickly opened it and slipped outside. Inside, her teammates looked at each other. "Mystel is the best at this kind of stuff, he can go and get her." Clearing his throat and glaring at Crusher, Mystel leapt out of the window. Fumika looked down and saw her teammate climbing up the building. Sighing with frustration, she climbed sideways for a while before jumping into a tree. She looked out towards the building and saw Mystel still climbing and searching for her. Smirking, she leapt through the trees, finally stopping in a small clearing. Wasting no time, she launched Scorpio.

"Earth Fissure!" She tried over and over, but to no avail. In the end, she was laying on the ground, covered in cuts and bruises, panting heavily. She heard a rustling sound before Mystel came into view, looking annoyed. "So you were here," grinning, she looked at him. He sighed and walked over to where she was laying and sat down. "The others are gonna kill me…" Peering up at him, Fumika said, "don't worry, I'm taking the blame!"

"You should." He answered and chuckled lightly. Fumika grinned and laughed a little. Then, they decided to go back.

"What happened to you?!" Ming-Ming had gone hysterical the second she saw Fumika. Pushing her onto the bed, she called a nurse who immediately started to re-bandage Fumika for the second time that day. Once the nurse had left, Fumika was met by the glares of her teammates. "What in the world were you thinking?!" Ming-Ming still hadn't calmed down. Glancing at her friend, Fumika explained. "Remember what Boris said? I have to master that attack before the tournament!"

"Not while like this, you won't!" And with that, Ming-Ming told her teammates that Fumika mustn't be left alone and that there should be at-least one of them with her to make sure that she doesn't escape. Sighing wearily, Fumika curled up into a ball and tried to fall asleep. Once all of her teammates, minus whichever one was supposed to be there with her, had left, she peered up to see who had been appointed as her 'guard'.

Her eyes met a pair of turquoise ones. Brooklyn gave her a friendly smile and said, "hi," Fumika smiled back wearily and replied. "Hi,"

"I'm guessing that you must feel pretty bored around here,"

"Well, duh!" Chuckling in response, Brooklyn tried to think of something else to say.

"How're you finding your stay here?"

"Hmm… interesting?" Fumika asked more than stated, causing Brooklyn to laugh. That caused her to start laughing and then the conversation continued. Fumika and Brooklyn joked around and chatted until it was time for Brooklyn to do the final part of training. "Well, I hope we can chat more often." Brooklyn told her with a smile.

"Me too." Fumika smiled back and watched his retreating form. Garland came into the hospital room, looking very annoyed. Brusquely, he sat down on the chair, crossed his arms and looked straight ahead, focusing his gaze on anywhere but her. Staring at the ceiling, Fumika became a part of the awkward silence that hung in the air around them. Eventually, Garland had had enough and turned to face her. "Why did you do that?" She looked at him with empty, soulless eyes, causing him to flinch. "Why do you think?" She hissed, tired of his attitude.

"I'm asking you because I don't know,"

"I think I've already answered this for you before." The venom in her voice made him flinch again. Suddenly, a memory flashed into his head, playing right before his eyes.

_'During lunch, Garland came to visit her. "Hey there, Fumika." She just looked at him, unsure of what to say. He was obviously still annoyed with her for doing something as 'reckless' as jumping off the top of the BEGA Building. "I'm sorry, Garland. My intentions were not bad." Garland looked at her in surprise. _

_"Then why? Why did you throw yourself off, with no regard for your own life?" Fumika sighed mentally and explained it to him again. "It was either me or my entire family, what would you have chosen?" This caused him to go silent. _

_"I know that was a rhetorical question but… I would have chosen the same as you, thank-you for shedding light on my questions." Fumika nodded in response and they just stayed there in a comfortable silence. After a while, Garland broke the silence by saying, "I think I now hold a lot more respect for you, Fumi." Shocked, Fumika looked at him._

_"Th… th… thank-you." Garland nodded and left for training.'_

Surprised, he finally managed to form a coherent sentence. "S… so it was Boris' threat?"

"Well done, Sherlock." She commented sarcastically. Feeling guilty, Garland pushed away his pride for a moment to apologise. "I'm sorry for continually judging you incorrectly, I now understand your choices better than before." With this, he bowed his head.

"Doesn't matter, I don't blame you." Fumika's reply shocked Garland but he didn't say anything. The venom and hissing in her voice was gone and replaced with a weary tone. Glancing at Fumika, he saw that she had fallen asleep. A ghost of a smile flew over his lips as he sat there for the night.

This time, Fumika didn't even open her eyes, knowing that the blinding light of the hospital room would be the only thing to greet them. Slowly, she sat up and stretched, yawned and rubbed her eyes. After a few moments, she attempted to open her eyes. They stung as the light came into contact with them. "Damn these lights!" Fumika said loudly, out of frustration.

"Would you like me to turn them off?" Yelping slightly in surprise, Fumika turned her head to where she thought the person was. "I'm over here," She turned again, trying to pinpoint where the person was.

_'I've heard that voice before…'_

"There, you can open your eyes now." Opening her eyes, Fumika twisted around and saw that the person that had been speaking to her was Mystel. The lights had been turned off, the only light coming from the morning's sun through the window. Flopping back down onto the bed, she slipped her hand into her pocket, gripping her blade. She had to perfect the move before the tournament, failure was not an option.

Sliding her pupil slyly in Mystel's direction, she saw that he was looking at her.

_'Great!'_

She growled sarcastically in her head. Glancing back at her teammate, she saw the same look that he had the night he came to visit her.

'_Hmm… I wonder what's bothering him. Oh, well. I've gotta get going.'_

_'No way, mistress. You need to recover!'_

_'Your right… I can't train while you're still hurt, it isn't fair on you.'_

_'I recovered ages ago! You're the one that has to recover!'_

_'If you're Ok, then so am I!'_

She then broke the mental chat she was having with Scorpio by expertly unlocking the window and jumping out, again. A slightly dazed Mystel broke out of his trance.

_'How does she keep on escaping from me like that?'_

With that thought, he leaped out after her.

Grinning wildly, she continued to climb, finally leaping onto the ground and running off. Seeing this, Mystel sighed inwardly. Great, now he was in trouble. Now on the rooftop of a smaller building, Fumika started to skilfully jump from one to another. Mystel followed her with little difficulty, turning this into a rooftop chase.

Having a good amount of agility, Fumika was able to easily dodge Mystel, while he managed to keep the distance in-between them the same. The buildings were now giving way to some jungle-like trees. Leaping down into them, Fumika managed to snag a vine-like plant into her grip and swing safely onto a tree's branch. With slightly more experience, Mystel swung onto a branch, parallel to her's. Smirking, she leapt from branch to branch, slowly getting the hang of it. Mystel followed, also getting slightly used to it. Eventually, she swung down into a small clearing of sorts and swiftly launched Scorpio.

"Earth Fi-" Mystel's hand clamped over her mouth before she could finish. She smirked, knowing that this wouldn't stop her. Feeling her smirk against his hand, Mystel eyed her suspiciously.

_'Scorpio! Earth Fissure!'_

As the ground started to shake, Mystel looked at her, shocked. Feeling his hand loosen, she slipped out of his grip and grinned. Again, the attack got out of Scorpio's control, and ended up exploding. Slightly disappointed, Fumika picked up her blade, pocketed it and walked over to Mystel, who was sitting on the ground, mildly dazed. "You're not going to tell me that wasn't fun!" Smiling in response, Mystel got up.

"Yeah, but we need to get back now." Pouting playfully, Fumika followed.

The next day, Fumika was allowed out of the hospital room for short amounts of time. Ming-Ming insisted that her teammates should still 'guard' her, so she got closer to her teammates by chatting to them whenever it was their turn to 'guard' her. "Argh! I am so bored!" Brooklyn just looked amused as Fumika said that for the millionth time that minute. "Please, please, please! Can I leave?" The nurse sighed and turned to face Fumika.

"You are only allowed to leave in two days, and that is if you behave yourself." Rolling her eyes, Fumika flopped back down onto the bed. She heard Scorpio chuckle in her mind.

_'Aren't you bored?'_

_'Hearing you moan is funny enough, mistress.'_

_'Oh yeah, that reminds me. Please stop calling me mistress, please!'_

_'Why?'_

_'Because, one, if anything, you are superior to me. Two, it doesn't sound right, we're friends, not master and servant.'_

Scorpio was quiet for a while before answering.

_'OK then, Fumika.'_

_'Woohoo! Better!'_

She heard Scorpio laugh slightly before feeling his presence leave her mind. "Training's in five minutes, want to come?" She perked up and looked at Brooklyn, smiling widely.

"Of course!" With that she jumped out of bed and raced off, leaving Brooklyn to follow after her.

Training was slightly lighter than usual, but still tough nonetheless. At the end of the day, the team and Hiro went to the lobby. "I've brought a laptop from the office with me, I think the team stats are up now." Everyone looked at Hiro, waiting for him to tell them who they would be facing off against. "One second…" they all waited for it to load up the teams impatiently. "Well, F-Dynasty are competing… so are the Majestics, the Blitzkrieg Boys, and us. I guess it is just a small tournament, maybe to spark interest in the BEGA." The rest of the evening was spent devising a strategy for the upcoming tournament.


	9. Chapter 9

**Russia and Tournament Part 1**

After recovering, Fumika had practiced even more than before, determined to master the Earth Fissure attack. It was now five days from the tournament, and one before the flight to Russia.

"Remember to pack tonight, Fumi! We leave at 6am tomorrow!" Ming-Ming's voice resounded painfully in Fumika's head. "I know, I know!" Was Fumika's response as she got up from the canteen table, ending her breakfast. The others also got up and headed off towards the gym.

_'We don't have much time to perfect the move…'_

_'I know, but I believe that we can pull it off.'_

_'Thanks for the encouragement, Scorpio. I appreciate it.'_

_'No problem.'_

Whipping out her blade and launcher, she sent Scorpio into the dish. Mystel's Poseidon soon followed, sending Scorpio skittering back a little. Smirking, Fumika brought her focus and concentration to the battle. "Attack, Scorpio!"

"Go, Poseidon!"

The two beasts collided, both trying to bring the other down. "Sand Stab!"

"Ocean Javelin!"

Both attacks collided, while Poseidon just bounced back a little, Scorpio skittered back, almost falling out of the dish. Growling, Fumika commanded Scorpio to attack, causing him to crash into Poseidon again. Poseidon easily knocked Scorpio back. Hissing, Scorpio charged again, only to be knocked back, again. Snarling slightly, Fumika wondered whether she should use her final attack or not. Finally deciding not to destroy another gym, she called out another attack. "Sand Stab!" Again, Poseidon's Ocean Javelin stops Scorpio's attack. A final attack from Poseidon knocks Scorpio out of the dish.

Sighing, Fumika pockets Scorpio. "If you don't mind, Hiro, I need to go clear my head. I'll be back before lunch." Nodding in response, Hiro watched her leave. As she walked outside, she took Scorpio back out again. Launching him, she wasted no time in calling out the attack. "Earth Fissure!" The attack went according to plan, until they lost control again, and Scorpio stopped spinning. Picking him back up, she launched him again and continued to practice.

Breathing heavily, she trudged into the canteen, crushed after yet another failure. She sat down but didn't eat anything, claiming that she wasn't hungry. "What's wrong, Fumi?" Looking at Brooklyn with dull eyes, she stayed silent. A comforting hand was placed on her shoulder. "Don't worry, you can master that attack, we all believe in you." Widening her eyes slightly, she nods her head to Garland, silently thanking him for his supportive words. Straight after lunch, they go back to training. "Alright, Ming. I'm going to try now, be prepared,"

"Right!"

"Go Scorpio! Earth Fissure!"

As the attack reached its pinnacle of power, Fumika felt her control sliding away, Scorpio's following after her's. The ground erupted into seismic chunks, flying through the air, knocking everyone off balance. Scorpio had already stopped spinning and Fumika was lying on the ground, trying to stay awake and in control. She felt the floor below her shifting, tossing her around violently. Snagging Scorpio into her hand, she pocketed him and twisted her head around, searching for the others. The smoke revealed Ming-Ming and Crusher sitting on the ground, slightly dazed. A slightly surprised Garland and Brooklyn stood near a slightly ruffled-up Hiro, who had been standing a slightly safe distance away, surveyed the scene around him with mild interest. Mystel sat a few metres away from Ming-Ming and Crusher, getting up slowly and looking around.

"Heh, heh, sorry guys," a very battered-looking Fumika's voice came from somewhere in the room. Rushing over, the team and their coach peered at her. Apart from a bruise or two and a few cuts, she seemed to be OK. Getting to her feet, she smirked. "Lets try again!"

"Oh-no you don't!" Ming-Ming leapt at her friend, trying to stop her from getting Scorpio back out. Too late.

"Earth Fissure! Go!" The whole scene repeated itself, ending in a very similar way.

"I told you not to!" Ming-Ming's annoyed voice echoed all over the gym. A cheesy grin was the only reply she got from her friend. "Hey, what's the time?" Brooklyn walked over to the smashed up clock that lay shattered on the floor. "Well, the last time this clock was working, I think it said 8pm." The whole team looked at him as if he had just sprouted another head. Realisation hit him as he remembered that they all still needed to pack.

Saying a few hasty goodbyes, they ran off towards the dormitories. Realising that he still needed to pack, Hiro walked behind them, wondering on how to explain the destruction of yet another room.

After packing, the whole team lay sleeping soundly in their rooms. Well, all but one. Fumika lay awake, staring at the ceiling emptily.

_'We haven't got long left, Scorpio.'_

_'I know, I will do my best, mis- I mean, Fumika.'_

Finally, Fumika managed to fall asleep.

Ming-Ming violently shook her friend awake, yelling as she did so. "C'mon! We have to be at the airport in one hour! Get up!" At this, Fumika sat bolt upright and shooed Ming-Ming out of her room. Within a few minutes, she was downstairs, eating a hasty breakfast with her friends. Eventually, they were all inside the taxi that was taking them to the airport.

"Are we nearly there yet?"

"For the last time, no! Fumi!" A small anime vein appeared on Brooklyn's head as he answered Fumika for the millionth time. Grinning, she decided to be quiet. Hours seemed to pass before they finally got there. "Finally!" Fumika yelled as she got out of the taxi and stretched her legs. All of her other teammates and coach seemed to be glad that they were out of the cramped space that they had beed confined in for the past hour or two. After their bout of stretching, they headed in.

Braving the boredom of the luggage and hand check-ins, they waited for their flight to be announced. "All passengers going to Moscow, please make your way to Gate 64." The woman announced through the speaker. Picking up their hand luggage, the team made their way to the gate. An hour later, they were allowed to board the plane. They sat at the back, away from any curious stares. Ming-Ming sat next to Fumika, in front of them sat Brooklyn and Mystel. Next to Ming-Ming and Fumika, were Garland and Crusher and in front of them was Hiro.

"I'm bored!" Fumika announced.

"You're not the only one,"

"We haven't even taken off yet!"

"Hey, I think we're taking off now!" Looking out of the small windows, the team saw the ground getting more and more distant. Leaning back on her seat, Fumika's mind kept on wandering to the unfinished attack. In the end, she fell into an uneasy doze, oblivious to everything around her.

"Fumi, hey, Fumi, wake up!"

"Huh? Are we there, Ming?"

"Yes! Now get up!" Grumbling, Fumika got up, wincing slightly at the stiffness in her legs. Once they were outside, Fumika already had her arms wrapped around herself. They hadn't had much time so they were all in their regular clothes. Hiro seemed to be OK, his jacket protecting him from the worst of the cold. Crusher also looked fine, apart from the goosebumps on his legs. Brooklyn also seemed to be OK. Ming-Ming looked frozen, as did Garland and Fumika. Mystel was also cold, but he didn't seem to mind the wind. He even looked like he was enjoying it.

"L… l… lets go, please!" Ming-Ming's teeth chattered furiously, making it hard to understand her. Nodding in agreement, the team headed off towards the general direction of the hotel they would be staying in.

"Right, the girls will be sharing a room. The boys will also be sharing one but I will have a separate one, OK?" Everyone nodded as Hiro showed them where they would be staying. Plonking her bags down onto the carpet, Fumika looks around. The room has cream coloured walls, ceiling and carpet. There was a wooden door that possibly led to the bathroom. There were also two beds in the room. Lying down on her bed, Fumika wrapped her fingers around Scorpio's blade.

_'We haven't got long left.'_

_'I know, maybe we should go and practice now.'_

_'Right.'_

"I'm going out for a while, Ming. I'll see you guys later." Ming-Ming nodded in response and went back to unpacking. The second she walked outside, Fumika felt a stinging wind hit her face, realising that she hadn't brought a jacket with her, she sighed and continued to walk, trying to ignore the biting cold. Eventually, she reached a park. Launching Scorpio, she waited for a while before calling out her command. "Scorpio, Earth Fissure!" The ground began to shake, throwing Fumika to the ground as if she was a rag doll. "Damn!" Was all she managed before she was tossed again, landing on her front, face to a side. Scorpio had stopped spinning long ago and was now helplessly watching his mistress being cut up and bruised right before his very eyes.

"Urgh, that didn't turn out well…" Fumika muttered to herself as she picked up Scorpio and launched him again. Just as she was going to call out the attack, a voice sounded out from behind her. "It's dinner time, you'd better come before it gets dark." Nodding, Fumika picked Scorpio up and put his blade in her pocket. Turning around, she followed Garland back to the hotel.

"Argh, we've only got two more days, the third is the tournament!" Fumika had had enough. She got up and walked back to her room, in absolute silence. "Did I say something wrong?" Ming-Ming asked, confused by her friend's behaviour.

"She still hasn't perfected the attack, so…" Mystel attempted to explain what had tipped Fumika to Ming-Ming. Feeling bad, Ming-Ming went silent. The rest of the meal passed in silence.

A wave of darkness passed over Fumika. Her eyelids slowly sliding down, blurring her already foggy vision. Drowsily, she turned to see Ming-Ming enter the room. "I'm sorry about earlier, Fumi. It wasn't my intention."

"Don't worry," Fumika grinned at her friend. Finally, the tiredness washed over her completely, drowning her completely.

A small, irritating feel on her arm awoke her. Fumika opened her eyes to see Ming-Ming poking her continuously with her index finger. "I'm awake, I'm awake!" The poking stopped and Fumika got up, rubbing her eyes. Having fallen asleep with her clothes on, Fumika walked out of their room and headed towards the small canteen that the hotel had. Sitting at their usual table were all of them minus Hiro and Ming-Ming. As she sat down, she looked at those already there. Garland focused on something in front of him blankly, possibly thinking about the upcoming 'mini tournament'. Brooklyn looked as care-free as usual, looking out of the window. Mystel was constantly running a hand through his hair, muttering some incoherent words. Crusher kept on glancing around the room, looking for something to take his mind off the stress.

Ming-Ming came running into the room, closely followed by Hiro. They both sat down. The team and their coach spent breakfast revising their strategy for the tournament. "Right, lets go." They walked out of the canteen and went to the park for some extra training.

The day went on as usual, with the usual breaks and strategy revising. They now only had one more day until the tournament, everyone was tense but Fumika's tension made them all look relaxed.

_'We only have today to finish the move, I'm losing hope, Scorpio.'_

_'Don't worry, we're almost there.'_

Scorpio's futile efforts to calm down Fumika had no effect whatsoever on her. She was snapped out of her worrying when she was called up to battle against Crusher. She managed to beat him without too much a problem. She sat back down, taking her troubled mind along.

The cold, Russian night air whistled in the night, causing goosebumps to prickle over a small, determined figure. Alone in the park, her eyes gleamed with persistence. Her skin held fresh cuts and bruises, though not big, they stung. Her muscles screamed, begging her to stop. She ignored them. "One more time! Earth Fissure!" Scorpio launched the attack, making Fumika skid back slightly, holding her ground. Setting up her arms in front of her face, she continued to stand strong. Falling to her knees, she remained in control.

_'Only a little longer, Scorpio.'_

She didn't get a reply. Panting, she looked for her fallen companion. Seeing Scorpio had stopped spinning, she pocketed him and decided to stop. Sighing dejectedly, she made her way back to the hotel, leaving the battered up earth behind her. Trudging into her room, she let herself fall onto the bed. That night, her sleep was restless.

"We have to get going in an hour. Get up!" Ming-Ming's voice drifted into her head.

"Are you becoming my personal alarm clock, or am I imagining it?" Fumika grumbled, got up and began to get ready. Waiting for Ming-Ming to finish getting ready, Fumika let her hand fly into her pocket, wrapping her hand around Scorpio tightly, the sharp edges of the blade making small cuts into her grip. "Lets go, Fumi!" Withdrawing her hand from her pocket, Fumika followed her friend out of the room, casting one last look over her shoulder before closing and locking the door.

Walking into the stadium's lobby, the team and their coach sat down, waiting for the tournament to begin. Hiro tapped his foot impatiently, while Garland, who sat beside him, fiddled with his gloves, a serious look on his face. Crusher sat, looking at his blade, completely absorbed in his own thoughts. Mystel and Brooklyn sat side-by-side, both looking on edge, Mystel more than Brooklyn, who seemed to be a little calmer than the rest, even Hiro. Ming-Ming fidgeted next to Fumika, who also decided to spend the time fidgeting.

Finally, an announcement made its way through the speakers. "First to compete will be F-Dynasty Vs BEGA, followed by the Majestics Vs the Blitzkrieg Boys. Lets get this tournament started!" Without a word, they stood up and made their way to their team's side of the dish. Sitting on the bench, they waited for the opposing team to arrive. F-Dynasty's Romero walked through the entrance, followed by Julia and Raul. Raul and Julia both walked up to the dish and readied their blades and launchers.

"Fumika, Mystel, you're up." The two Hiro mentioned walked up to the dish, also readying their blades and launchers.

"Three…"

"Two…"

"One…"

"Let it rip!"

The twins simultaneously launched their blades, closely followed by both Mystel's and Fumika's. The twin's teamwork was impeccable, giving Mystel and Fumika a hard time. Julia's Thunder Pegasus and Raul's Torch Pegasus continuously smashed against Fumika's Scorpio and Mystel's Poseidon in perfect synch. "Mystel, use the Ocean Javelin attack when I give the signal, OK?" Nodding and feeling slightly confused, Mystel forced his focus back on the battle.

_'Just a little longer, Scorpio…'_

As the twin's blades charged towards theirs, Fumika shouted, "now, Mystel! Scorpio, Sand Stab!"

"Right, Poseidon, Ocean Javelin!"

Poseidon's giant trident soared down towards the opponent's blades. Scorpio lunged forwards, tornados of sand circling his pincers. The two attacks collided, sending the twin's blades skittering back. "Raul, lets do it!"

"Right!"

"Gemini Crash!" Both twin's blades charged forwards, colliding with Scorpio and Poseidon at full force. Poseidon took the attack fairly well, for what it was. He now spun in a wobbly manner, determined to keep spinning. Scorpio however, was on the edge of the dish, his erratic spinning showing that he was about to fall out.

"I won't let you fall again! Go Poseidon!" Heeding Mystel's command, Poseidon swiftly knocked Scorpio into the dish, careful not to hit him too hard. Slightly confused by what Mystel had just said, Fumika shook it off. She had a battle to win! "Mystel, one more time, this time around, attack from the left, I'll take the right." Nodding in acknowledgement, Mystel gave Poseidon his next move. "One more time! Ocean Javelin!"

"Again! Sand Stab!" The two blades leaped forwards, a powerful aura emanating from both of them, their determination burning strongly. Julia and Raul were to shocked to do anything as the blades connected, the sound of grinding, crashing metal reaching everyone's ears.

A bright light erupted from where the blades clashed, quickly followed by a barrage of smoke. Anxiously, the two teams waited for the smoke to clear, holding their breath without realising as they did so. The thick smoke started to thin and disappear, revealing a motionless blue blade, lying close to it was a motionless pink one. An aquamarine-turquoise blade was also revealed, spinning strongly with a slightly slower spinning purple and black blade next to it. Scorpio and Poseidon flew into Mystel and Fumika's hands, respectively.

Grinning victoriously, the winning pair high-fived and walked over to their defeated adversaries. Sticking out their hands and smiling, the two teams shook hands for a match well fought. Returning to their team, they all went back to the lobby to watch the Majestics fight the Blitzkrieg Boys on the TV.

The fight was intense. First, Johnny faced off against Bryan. In the end, Bryan's Falborg was too strong for Johnny's Salamalyon. Next, Robert was pitted off against Tala, wining by an inch. Lastly, Oliver fought against Spencer, his Unicolyon losing narrowly to Spencer's Seaborg. The Majestics had lost and the Blitzkrieg Boys have moved on to fight against the BEGA Team. Just as the team was about to head back to the hotel, Boris appeared, looking at Hiro. "Hiro, Suzuki will fight in the final battle tomorrow." He then turned to Fumika, in a threateningly low tone, he told her, "you'd better use the final attack tomorrow, or else. Oh, and it must be fully under control if it isn't, well... you know the consequences." As he left, she felt as if she had been punched in the gut.

Her teammates and coach went over to comfort her, telling her that she could do it. Sighing, she walked upstairs and went into the room she shared with Ming-Ming. She lay awake in bed unable to fall asleep. So many things were crowded in her mind. What Mystel said during the battle, Boris' unrelenting threats, her family and the match tomorrow. Slipping away into the world of sleep, one last thing resounded in her mind, louder than all the rest.

_'I will not fail, I will control the attack in tomorrow's match. I promise...'_

A small whisper inside her head, barely audible, made itself heard.

_'Never make promises that you cannot keep.'_


	10. Chapter 10

**Tournament Part 2 and An Accidental Discovery**

A sickening jolt of panic awoke Fumika, as she realised what day it was. Getting up, she started to get ready. Ming-Ming was also getting ready, not sure of what to say to her troubled friend. The two of them came downstairs. Everyone minus Hiro was there. Sitting down, the stayed in silence for a while. Once Hiro had arrived and they had satisfied their very small appetites, they headed towards the stadium, somewhat ready for the upcoming match. They lacked their usual confidence, they knew that the Blitzkrieg Boys were a powerful team. Though, above all, they were worried for Fumika. What if she couldn't pull off the attack? What would Boris do then? They dreaded to even imagine it.

As they entered the stadium, they found the opposing team already there. They sat down on the bench on their side of the dish. "OK, Garland, you are up first." Garland took his place on his side of the dish. Bryan walked up, taking out his blade and launcher.

"Three…"

"Two…"

"One…"

"Let it rip!"

Bryan's Falborg and Garland's Apollon clashed violently in the middle of the dish. Garland seemed to be quite stressed, for he called out his attack before even a minute had passed. "Apollon! Radiant Thunder!" A blistering crowd of lights erupted from the dish, blinding everyone in the stadium. The little lights dance around everyone. In the distance, Falborg's screech of pain was heard. As the flickers of light started to clear, Bryan was revealed lying on the ground, while his blade still spun.

Getting up, Bryan surveyed the scene before him. Quickly, he gathered himself and called out his next attack, "Falborg, Stroblitz!" Falborg's war cry echoed around the stadium as a shaft of light pierced through Garland's blade. Small cracks appeared in the blade, but Apollon stood strong.

Again, Bryan called out the Stroblitz attack, causing new cracks to spread along Apollon's blade, extending the first ones. Crying out in pain, Apollon's spinning began to falter. Growling, Garland commanded Apollon to use the Radiant Thunder attack just as Bryan called out another Stroblitz. Refusing to give up, Apollon managed to stay whole for long enough to stop Falborg from spinning. As Garland returned to the bench, he gave Hiro Apollon's cracked blade. "Don't worry, we'll get him repaired when we return." Hiro assured a worried Garland. Sighing with relief, Garland took his seat on the bench.

Tala stood up from his team's bench and made his way to the dish. Hiro glanced up at Boris, who was observing the match. Boris gave a slight shake of his head, indicating that Fumika was not to go up yet. "Alright, it's up to you, Crusher." Crusher stood and made his way to the dish, launching Gigars once he had gotten there. Tala's Wolborg circled Crusher's Gigars menacingly. "Go Gigars, attack!" Gigars charged forwards, bouncing off of Wolborg's sturdy blade upon impact.

"Wolborg! Novae Rog!" A blast of pieces of ice was rained down upon both Crusher and Gigars. To everyone's surprise, Gigars was actually knocked out of the dish! Crusher returned to the benchh, apologising continuously. "Crusher, if it helps, I think that you were supposed to lose," Crusher looked at his coach in surprise, though it made sense since Boris wanted Fumika in the final match.

"OK, Fumika, good luck." Nodding, she stood, swallowing the lump in her throat with difficulty. A hand came to rest on her head and she felt it ruffle her hair. Turning around, she saw Brooklyn, she gave him a questioning look. "Go for it, sis," Fumika was so shocked that she found it hard to reply. Brooklyn was like a brother to her, but she had no idea that he also thought of her as a sister. Nodding, she grinned and said, "got it, bro!" Smirking, Brooklyn gave her a light push, silently telling her to get over to the dish.

Taking a deep breath, she walked over to her side of the dish. Her heart almost stopped when Kai walked up to the dish, getting out his blade and launcher. Doing the same, Fumika felt her stomach do a million flips per second. Kai launched his blade, Dranzer, with extreme force, almost knocking Scorpio out of the dish as they collided. "Dranzer, Blazing Gigs!" Dranzer was engulfed by fiery, orange flames that then went blue. He then charged at Scorpio, screeching a war cry as he did so. Seeing that she had no other option, she countered. "Scorpio, Sand Stab!" Dranzer easily overpowered Scorpio, sending him flying to the edge of the dish. The force of the impact caused Fumika to fly backwards a few metres.

"Don't give up! Sand Stab!" Dranzer effortlessly dodged the attack with a contemptuous swerve, coming full circle and hitting Scorpio gracefully. "Why do you hold back" Fumika glanced at Kai, surprised. "I don't believe that you are truly this weak, why are you holding back?" Fumika looked away, she had to use the attack, but… she couldn't do it, at least, not now. She gritted her teeth as yet another attack hit Scorpio, hurting her too.

Scorpio couldn't take much more, though his determination managed to keep him in the game. Attack after attack pummelled Scorpio and Fumika, fresh cuts adorning both the blade and the blader. "Don't hold back, use your true power. Make this worth our time!" Biting her lip, Fumika looked at Kai. Seeing her uncertainty, Kai decided to use a different tactic. "I don't know why you are even here, you are so weak!" He taunted her, hoping to get her to unleash a stronger attack. "Heh, why am I even wasting my time on a weakling like you?" He felt bad about saying that, but it was the only way to get her to use her true strength. "This battle is a waste of my time!" That did it, Fumika raised her head, anger smouldering furiously in her eyes.

"I am not weak!" Her voice was low and demonic, sending shivers coursing down the spines of everyone that heard her. "Scorpio! Earth Fissure!" This time, the ground shook so violently that Kai stumbled to the floor. Dranzer's graceful spinning was turned erratic, a startled screech came from him as a crack in the ground disturbed his trajectory. "Dranzer! Blazing Gig!" Both attacks collided, sending both bladers back. Fumika lay on the ground, a small trickle of blood leaking out of the corner of her mouth. Kai sat on the ground, smirking. He had managed to get her to use her strongest attack!

Ginormous crevices carved paths through the ground, trailing around the floor, causing massive ruptures to grace the earth, dancing and entwining themselves over each other, leaving destruction in their wake. Uplifted bits of ground cut through Fumika's skin, like a scissor's blade upon paper. Bits of rock battered her body, bruising it. A final explosion was heard, ominous clouds of smoke erupted from the beydish, covering the whole scene completely.

Both teams ran into the smoke, trying to find their teammates. "Fumika!" Mystel ran over to her, gently propping her head up. "Wake up, Fumi! Wake up!" The only response he got was another drop of blood trickling out of the corner of her slightly open mouth. "Mystel? Have you found her?" Came Hiro's preoccupied voice.

"Yeah, I think she's knocked out, though!" Mystel replied worriedly, glancing back at Fumika, he saw that she was slightly paler than before. Shaking her gently, he spoke to her quietly. "Wake up, wake up. Just a little longer, you have to try and wake up." She stirred slightly, a blurry figure seemed to tower over her. She heard a small, comforting voice in her ear, pleading for her to stay awake just a little longer.

Her eyes struggled to remain in focus as her eyelids began to droop. "M… Mystel? What is happening? Where is Scorpio?" Mystel just shook his head, telling her that he wasn't sure and not to worry at the moment. Sitting up, she took in the sight before her. She could only see smoke, minus Mystel, who was kneeling beside her. A small gust of wind signalled a beyblade's arrival. It was Scorpio.

_'Don't fret, Fumika. We have won, they are safe.'_

With that, Scorpio's strength gave way and he stopped spinning with a clatter. Relieved, Fumika also felt the darkness washing over her. "Not now, Fumi! Just a little longer!"

"I… I'm sorry…" with that, she fell back into his arms, feeling the blackness that is unconsciousness overcome her.

Numb. She felt numb. Every muscle in her body ached, she couldn't move. One of her hands felt slightly warmer, as if something was on it. Her fingers twitched lightly, causing the thing that was causing the warmth to be removed. She dared not to open her eyes, afraid of the sharpness of the light that most possibly lay in wait. "It's OK, the lights are off." A familiar voice drifted into her head. Opening her eyes a crack, she realised that whoever said that was right, and the lights were off. Opened fully, her eyes roamed around the room. She made out her teammates and coach, standing around her. Grinning weakly, she tried to sit up. She felt a hand gently push her down. Glancing up, she saw Mystel shake his head slightly, his arm preventing her from getting up. She tried again, her muscles screaming in protest. Again, she was pushed down. Unwilling to give up, she pushed his hand away and tried to sit up once again.

An excruciating amount of anguish reverberated off every part of her body, causing violent shakes to wrack her body. Determined, she sat up, only to fall back down again. "Alright, I need to know what happened, can you please tell me?" Her teammates shared many glances before Hiro stepped up and began the story. "After the attack had been launched, we all ran into the smoke-filled arena, trying to find you. Mystel found you and managed to keep you awake for a short while before you went unconscious again. We immediately took you to the stadium's infirmary, where they treated the worst wounds. A sprained ankle and various bruises and cuts were all you sustained, they've already been tended to. We then took you back to the BEGA Building's infirmary, where you are now, after the stadium announced that you would be fine. Kai wasn't hurt as badly, only getting a few cuts and bruises. Also, you won the match, your family is safe." Fumika nodded in acknowledgement, trying to take it all in.

A knock sounded at the door, indicating someones arrival. "You can come in." Garland allowed whoever it was to enter. The Blitzkrieg Boys walked in, each looking around the room, looking for something. Upon seeing Fumika, they all walked over. Kai grinned and turned to her. "Thanks for the match, I knew you were stronger than what you showed me, at first. I just had to find a way of getting you to fight with your full power, I'm sorry, you aren't weak."

"I know now that you didn't mean it, I'm sorry, the attack wasn't completely perfected."

"Now it is." Smiling in response, Fumika watched the team exit. Just as he was closing the door, Kai turned around and said, "I would like a re-match sometime." Grinning, Fumika nodded in response. Kai smirked and shut the door, leaving Fumika and her team to talk a little more. "Scorpio managed to keep on spinning throughout the whole attack, meaning that Boris has deemed it completed." Fumika looked at Ming-Ming and smiled. Then, she remembered something. "Where is Scorpio?"

"He's getting repaired, he sustained some damage too, especially since the battle was only an hour ago. I think you can go and get him though." Fumika thanked her coach, and with his help, and the teams, she managed to limp over to the door.

They made their way through the winding corridors, picked up Scorpio, thanking the people who repaired him, and began to head back. They came to a stop, allowing Fumika a small rest. Leaning against the wall, she panted lightly. A wave of exhaustion washed over her, and she began to fall. Mystel quickly caught her. "I told you that I wouldn't let you fall again." He smiled. Before a confused Fumika could ask him anything, a loud click resounded in the silence.

Limping back towards the wall, Fumika ran her hand down it. She tapped a certain spot on it and a loud echo pierced the quietness that hang in the air like mist. "A hollow wall…?" Even Hiro was surprised. Fumika poked and prodded the wall, she slid her hand across it. Swearing that she felt something, she ran her hand down it again, this time, slower. She felt a small lump, she slammed her hand onto it, it went down, into the wall, and then back out again. The others, having seen this, started to look for where the click could have come from. "Since you've pressed it again, won't the mechanism, if there is one, close?"

"I don't thing so, Ming-Ming. It didn't click again so this must be a one way button. Meaning that if there is another button, it should be a two way one, allowing us to open and close the mechanism with it." Ming-Ming and the others nodded in understanding at Brooklyn's reply.

Walking over the rug, Ming-Ming's foot sank into the ground. "Um guys… I think I've found it…" Crusher lifted up the rug. Peering closer, the team came face-to-face with a trapdoor mechanism, its foreboding entrance leading down into the darkness.


	11. Chapter 11

**Traps and Mysteries**

"Wow… I never knew that this was here…" was all that Fumika was able to say as they stared down into the seemingly never-ending abyss. "I don't know about you, but this looks sketchy. Should we go in?" Crusher's question went unanswered for a few moments, the Fumika spoke up. "I think this is worth checking out, anyone have something that we could throw in, to check how deep down it goes?" At this, Brooklyn piped up.

"One second…" He took out the earring that he always kept in his left ear. "If we listen well enough, we should hear it hit the bottom." Nodding, Garland took the earring and dropped it in.

"One, two, three, four, five, si-" A hollow thunk was heard as Brooklyn's earring hit the floor of whatever was down there. "About five and a half metres down, judging by how long it took." Mystel told them.

"Hmm… I think that we should be OK jumping down there, well, maybe apart from Fumika." Hiro sounded dubious as to whether they should go down there or not.

"Don't worry, I'll help her." Mystel volunteered. Knowing that Mystel could easily jump the height without a problem, he agreed. "Well then, lets go!" Ming-Ming's impatient exclamation jolted them out of their thoughts. "Right!" First, Hiro jumped down.

"It's OK, it isn't too deep." Brooklyn was next, then Garland, Crusher, Ming-Ming and then Fumika and Mystel. "I don't need help!"

"Yes you do, now stop wriggling or I'll drop you."

"Pfft! I could land perfectly well if you did!" Mystel sighed, gently placing Fumika on the ground. Even then, she jumped down slightly, trying to show them that she could have done it without their help.

"C'mon sis, we're a team, we help each other." Brooklyn went over to her, placing his hand on her head and ruffling her hair lightly. Fumika noticed that his earring was back in his ear.

They all turned, looking down the wide, dark corridor that now lay before them. The walls, ceiling and flooring were all made of stone, making the scenery seem even darker. "This place gives me the creeps…" Ming-Ming shivered uncomfortably, shuffling behind her teammates. "Hey, you were the one that was all impatient to jump down!" Fumika pointed out. At this, Ming-Ming crept out from behind Crusher and stood next to her. "Right then, lets go." Hiro took the lead, walking carefully along the corridor. As the team continued to walk, a small click was heard, followed by the sound of whooshing air.

A light thunk was heard, as and arrow lodged itself into the wall, falling down to the floor with a clatter. "Damn, this place must be rigged with traps, anyone who comes down here must know how to deactivate them… Everyone, be on your guard!" Hiro's ominous warning caused fear to flutter in Fumika's heart, causing a sickening feeling to rise in her stomach.

As Hiro walked forwards again, a chorus of clicks met their ears. Launching his blade, Brooklyn called out a command. "Zeus, block the arrows!" Brooklyn's companion, Zeus, was doing a good job, but some arrows still got through. One pierced a hole through Mystel's shirt sleeve, and another narrowly missed Garland's head. Exhausted, Zeus flew back to Brooklyn's hand.

Glancing around warily, the team stiffened their stances, slightly jumpier than before. No-one moved, afraid of activating the hidden mechanism again. Suddenly, Fumika leapt forward, as best as she could, with a sprained ankle and landed on her front, simultaneously slamming her hand onto the ground as hard as she could. A click was heard, and then a crunch, as Fumika's hand broke the activator. A few arrows were spewed at them, missing by just a little. "Fumi, we still have tons more of the activators to destroy…" Ming-Ming pointed out.

"And even if we do destroy them all, the arrows may still hit us." Brooklyn added on, and finished off. Fumika was still on the ground, unable to move due to the possibility of activating another one of the arrow launchers. "Wait a second guys, Fumika's actions have given me an idea, it may just work," with that, Crusher pulled out Gigars and launched him fiercely at the ground. "Gigars! Demolition Axe! As Gigars made contact with the ground, a large explosion breached the anticipating silence, soon to be followed by smothering clouds of smoke.

Fumika, who was still on the floor, caught the worst of the smoke. Coughing violently, she stood up, careful of where she treaded. She felt a hand pat her back, looking up, she saw Brooklyn and glared playfully at him. "I'm not *cough* a little ki- *cough* -d, you don't need *cough* to do that." She told him. He just smiled a brotherly smile and tried to find the others through the smoke. Deciding to do the same, Fumika stepped closer to her friends, who were busy dusting themselves off, cautiously.

Garland was tapping the dented ground suspiciously with his foot, checking for any activators that may still be whole. Once he had thoroughly checked the area, Garland informed the team and they proceeded.

A few minutes passed and their journey down the morbid, stone corridor went undisturbed. The team walked close together, fearful of any more concealed traps. As Fumika walked on the stone ground, a small hole opened up underneath her sprained, left foot. The hole expanded, threatening to swallow her whole if she didn't get out of there soon. Before she could fall, she grabbed onto the edge of the hole, her body dangling down into the chasm. She could see rusty iron spikes pointing up at her. "Little help?" It came out in a strangled manner, but it was still coherent.

She was hoisted back up onto the ground by Mystel, who said, "I said I wouldn't let you fall again." Before she could ask him what he meant, again, she was interrupted by Hiro calling out a warning. "I think that the next trap may be pitfalls like the one Fumika almost fell down, don't try anything rash." The team stared at the ground before them, it suddenly seemed to stretch on forever, making it look even more foreboding than ever. "Um… Any ideas?" Ming-Ming's quiet question managed to pierce the silence, flooding them into an uneasy quietude.

"Well… maybe we could run across and hope no-one gets hurt?" Fumika questioned more than suggested. Her teammates al gave her a looks that obviously said "seriously?" Grinning back in a cheesy manner and turned her attention back to the hazardous floor that stretched out in front of them.

Garland reached into his pocket and pulled out Apollon. "I think he could fly us over, what do you think?" He paused as he got a mental agreement from his companion. His team also nodded, what other choice did they have? Garland launched and summoned Apollon, the griffin-like bit-beast stood proudly, giving off a majestic, golden-yellow light. Apollon crouched down slightly, facilitating the job of climbing onto his back. First, he carried Ming-Ming across the danger zone. Then, he went to get Fumika. "No way! I'll go last!" Fumika's protests were drowned out by Brooklyn, who clamped a hand over her mouth. "Mmph!" Smiling with amusement, he removed his hand and lifted her onto Apollon's back.

Apollon carried her over, much to her frustration. Once she had been dropped off on the other side, Fumika refused to move even an inch before all of them had been transported across. Eventually, they all reached the other side. Apollon returned to his blade, exhausted. Garland pocketed him, also thanking him in the process of doing so.

The proceeded, their footsteps made loud echoes reverberated down the corridor, making all of them very self-conscious.

_'Urgh… my strength seems to have returned to me, Fumika.'_

_Fumika was overjoyed to hear Scorpio's voice in her head again._

_'I'm so glad that you're OK!'_

_'Almost OK, Fumi. I still need a little longer to recover.'_

_'But I'm still really glad that you're OK,'_

Scorpio's presence faded from her mind, a hint of gratefulness where he had been a moment ago was the only indication that he had heard her.

The still coldness of the corridor became more apparent to them as the further they went, the more the temperature dropped. Goosebumps prickled all over Fumika's skin, causing her to rub them in a futile attempt to gain some warmth. As they continued to walk, all of them started to get very jumpy. Why hadn't the next trap appeared yet?

Hiro stopped walking abruptly, narrowing his eyes. "What's wrong Hiro?" Ming-Ming asked, preoccupied for her coach. "Don't move forwards." Was the only reply he gave. Confused, the team obeyed, standing next to Hiro, but not going in front of him. Hiro raised his hand and held it out in front of himself, palm facing forwards. He pushed lightly with it, finding that it couldn't go forwards. He put another hand forwards and ran them over the invisible wall that he seemed to be miming. "Erm… are you OK?" Mystel asked, slightly worried for his coach's mental health. He didn't get a reply.

Finally, Hiro stepped back from his 'invisible wall'. "As I thought, there is a force-field of some kind blocking our path, I think there may be a generator to find and deactivate," At this, the team began to search, feeling along the walls and floor for any hidden mechanism. "Agh! There's nothing here! Are you sure there's a generator, Hiro?" Ming-Ming half-glared at Hiro, impatience written clearly all over her face. Hiro sighed, his features showing tiredness. "I don't know, it was just a guess," Ming-Ming huffed loudly and continued searching. "Where haven't we searched yet?" Fumika's exasperated voice resounded across the small space. A few dull mumbles were the only reply she got.

"One second, I think I've got this," with that, Mystel jumped up the wall and launched his blade at the ceiling. Poseidon smashed some of the stone, revealing a small disc. The disc came clattering onto the floor. Brooklyn picked it up and eyed it with interest. "Could this be the generator?"

"I'm not sure, let me take a look." Brooklyn handed Hiro the disc. Hiro started selecting wires and pulled them out slightly. He then got out his blade and used its sharp edges to cut the wires, small sparks emitting from them as he did so. As he cut the last wire, the force-field became visible, glowing an eerie purple colour. It then started to distort itself violently, eventually exploding with a final crackle.

Wondering what might come next, the team let their footsteps resume their echoing down the ominous corridor. It was now seriously cold, and Fumika shivered. The team was now tightly packed together, trying to preserve as much heat that they could. It felt like hours had begun to pass as they walked down the seemingly endless corridor, their footfalls reverberating along it, faint echoes boomed after them, like drums. And so, they walked to that emotionless, continuous beat, only able to imagine what would await them. Most of them bristled with goosebumps as the temperature continued to drop. The still air surrounding them wrapped around them, entwining itself in-between the team, draining their remaining warmth. To Fumika, it felt as if the temperature had slipped below zero, though it probably hadn't, yet. Her teeth chattered, the hollow sound becoming lost in the echoes of their feet's pounding. The air that she breathed was cold and frosty, biting her insides mercilessly. As she breathed, she tasted the air's icy, harsh tang in her mouth, immediately wishing that she had breathed that breath in with her nose. The atmosphere was scentless, just cold. They continued to walk, uncertain of where the corridor would lead them, each step was edged with slight hesitation, but, they held strong and carried on.

"Huh? What's that?" Ming-Ming pointed a finger up ahead, leading all of their gazes towards the gloom that stretched out in front of them. They crept warily up to whatever it was that Ming-Ming wanted them to see. "A dead end?!" Fumika yelled, severely annoyed.

"No, wait! There is a plaque on the wall," Mystel's sharp eyes quickly picked up the detail. They edged up to the stone wall and peered at the stone tablet on it.

_'There is a difference in-between rocks and stones.'_

"What does it mean by that?" Crusher mused, scratching the back of his head in thought.

"Maybe it's a riddle?" Brooklyn suggested, running a hand through his hair. At this, the whole team sat down and began to think furiously, forcing their brains into overdrive. Unfortunately, their brainstorming session didn't go too well, even Fumika was starting to feel down. Mystel plonked down next to her. "Any ideas?" Fumika gave him a dismal glance before replying. "No…" Mystel looked at her sympathetically.

"Don't worry, we didn't come this far to just give up!" The only reply he got was a sigh. He tried to encourage her, without much success. "I think I've got it!" Brooklyn stood up super quickly, startling his teammates and coach. Everyone looked at him, anticipation and hope glistened lightly in their eyes. "This whole corridor is made of stone, right? So that means that we may have to look for something out of the ordinary in this corridor."

"Err… Bro? You do realise that this corridor is gigantic, too gigantic to search thoroughly. Also, you mean that shooting arrows, pitfalls and force-fields aren't out of the ordinary in a stone corridor?" Fumika was very irritated by now, she was even tempted to start a rant, but thought better of it. Brooklyn sighed and attempted to counter her well-placed arguments. "Well… We could search just around here, we don't need to go too far. And…" He gasped as realisation hit him. "I know what we're supposed to do!"

"What?" Ming-Ming and Fumika asked simultaneously.

"I think that we need to search for an odd stone, like a rock amist all of these stones."

"So, a wall-tile that looks out of shape?"

"Exactly!" At that, the whole team got up and began to investigate the walls, ceiling and floor.

So far, their search had been fruitless, though they were determined not to give up. Interminable ages seemed to pass before Hiro's voice alerted them. "I think this could be it," he pointed to the wall. There was nothing there. Peering closer, they realised that he was pointing at a small, imperfect, rock-shaped stone that was barely visible among all of the neatly cut ones. He pushed it lightly with his finger, it sank in slightly. A loud click reached their ears. The sound of rubble being shifted indicated the movement of a large object. Turning her head, Fumika saw that the wall with the plaque on it had moved aside, revealing a small, wooden door.

They carefully pushed it open. A small light filtered through, stinging their eyes.

_'This reminds me of hospitals…'_

Fumika thought absent-mindedly as the door swung open fully. The first thing their eyes met was another, shorter, thinner corridor with a door at the end. Torches were aligned down the wall, lighting their path with their dim flames.

Again, they pushed open the door at the end of the corridor. Small gasps erupted from all of their mouths, even Hiro's, when they saw what lay inside. "Wh… wh… what? A lab?" Fumika's voice was barely more than a whisper, but everyone heard her nonetheless. "L… looks like it…" Garland said quietly as he surveyed the elaborate chemistry sets that had been placed around the room on stone counters. Hiro was the first to step inside the room, the others soon followed. They were very cautious and jumpy as they sneaked around the room, it just looked like a normal lab.

Again, Fumika's left leg gave way, due to her still sprained ankle. Brooklyn prevented her from falling and hurting herself, but she still bumped into the wall. The wall gave way behind her, an eerie, alien glow drifted through the gap. This captured the entire team's attention, and they turned their vision to the now slightly ajar wall. Pushing the door open completely, they peered inside. The sight that met their eyes caused them all to gasp. What in the world was going on?


	12. Chapter 12

**The Mystery Unfolds**

Their shocked stares flitted around the sight before them in a daze, struggling to take it all in. Enormous cylinders towered like pillars along the stone wall to the right. Two rows of counters stood on the left, chemistry sets that looked like they belonged to mad scientists sat on them, eerie coloured liquids inside some of the flasks. Tables full of test tubes, syringes, needles and other sinister looking tools were placed around the room. Candles were the only form of light in the dismal room, the wax being slowly melted by the dull flames. The tank-like cylinders were all empty, minus one. Creeping closer, they peered at what was inside the last tank.

A small, cybernetic chip was held by some claw-like pincers, keeping it in place. "It has a small resemblance to a Bit-chip…" Hiro observed, still staring at said item.

"Why would they need such a big cylinder-tank-thing, if it was just to hold a little chip?" Fumika asked, clearly dumbfounded at their discovery. Some shrugged, the rest just remained silent as they remained entranced by the intriguing sight. Complicated circuitry was all that they could see of the chip, as it gleamed dimly through the glass.

"Hey guys, did you hear that?" Mystel whispered, his sharp hearing having alerted him of the sound. The silence deepened as they all listened with baited breath. Footfalls were heard, slow and deliberate. Each and every one of their eyes flew wide open with shock and panic. Quick as a flash, they all went into hiding.

The door swung open with a weary creak, its rusty hinges squeaking in protest. A figure clad in a lab coat entered, adjusted his glasses, and sat down at one of the tables. He then began to fiddle around with the chemistry set, the strange liquids bubbling as he continued his work. A small table full of complicated-looking computers and other electrical machines that they hadn't noticed before was revealed to them as the man began to type something into one of them. The cylinder that contained the chip opened with a hiss. Retrieving the chip with a pair of tweezers, the man carried it back to the table he had been working on only moments before.

Taking one of the flasks, he poured its content into a syringe and readied it for injection. Picking up the chip with the tweezers, he expertly put the minuscule syringe's needle into the chip, carefully injecting it with the mysterious fluid. After what seemed like an eternity, he drew the needle back out, placing the syringe back down on the stony, dark grey table.

Placing the chip back inside the cylinder, the man resumed his typing, the clacking of the keys echoing oddly in the silence. From her place behind one of the counters, Fumika held in a gasp simultaneously with her teammates as the scene before them began to unfold.

Electrical sparks and bolts leapt out of the chip, dancing along the cylinder's inside wall, a bright light emitting from it. The bolts hammered at the tank, causing the ground to tremble slightly. A blinding light erupted from the chip, the earth rumbled and shook violently. Once the light had subsided, a disfigured silhouette rose from the chip, roaring fiercely, the sound reverberating around the room. The man in the lab coat continued to type, his fingers working furiously on the keyboard. More violent crashes shook the room, the figure pounding wildly at the very resistant glass that kept it limited. A horrendous roar echoed out again, its deafening tone wrapped heavily in fury. Slamming itself against the confines of the cylinder, the creature, or whatever it was, screamed and roared, continuously battering itself against the tank that held it in. Soon, his cries became weaker, its strength being drained, slowly yet surely. With one last furious, agonised bellow, it receded itself to just a small, crumpled pile on the ground. The blinding light returned as it returned to the chip. Sighing almost inaudibly, the man left the room slowly, his footsteps melting into the silence.

Numerous sighs of relief resounded in the room as the team's figures began to reemerge from their hiding places. Hiro stepped out from the shadow of one of the cylinders, while Crusher emerged from the shadow of a tank that was now beside Hiro. Ming-Ming and Fumika crawled out from behind the counters, while Mystel jumped down from an unidentified location on the ceiling. Garland and Brooklyn stepped forward from the darkened and shadowed corners of the lab.

"Anyone understand what just happened?" Hiro's somewhat calm voice contained hints of how shaken up and shocked he probably was. Everyone shook their heads in a shocked silence. All of them seemed to be mute as they crept up to the cylinder, every step edged with hesitation. Peering in, all they could see was the small chip, its wires letting out small streams of smoke as it sat there.

After a quick scour of the room, the team quickly found out that there wasn't much of interest there. Confusion still swirling in their minds, they left the room in a muted silence. They trudged back through the corridor, enveloped in their own thoughts, no-one daring to speak, lest their voice come out as a mere squeak or with a tremble. The entire journey progressed in silence, not even a sound of protest came from Fumika as Mystel helped her back up the hatch. The mechanism closed behind them as they hid it back under the rug. None of them had any appetite, so they all headed down to the lobby, still concealed in their silent thoughts.

Once they had reached the small room, they all sat down on the sofa's, maintaining the omnipresent silence. Eventually, the overbearing muteness was dispersed by Fumika's now small voice. "What is that room? What is it for?" It didn't sound like she was asking anyone in particular, so no-one answered. The room fell back into an ominous silence.

_'Fumika! This is no time to be silent, we have to find out what happened in the room! I have the feeling that it could have been something very important,'_

_'R… right, Scorpio.'_

Scorpio's presence receded from her mind, though she could feel him lingering in a corner, ready to wake her from her silence again. Sighing, she plucked up the courage to speak up in the overwhelming silence. "Ahem, so… what do you think actually happened back there?" For a while, nobody answered. But then, each one of their heads turned to face her slowly, every pair of eyes seemed to be glazed over as they stared at her emptily.

Fumika shrunk in her seat slightly, a feeling of uneasiness coursing through her as they continued to stare at her with those hollow expressions. She opened her mouth to speak again when Hiro shook his head, a dismal look on his face. Similar expressions made up the other's features as they each lowered their heads. Discouraged, Fumika closed her mouth and bowed her head with them. They all sat there for a few moments, listening to the silence. Finally, Fumika had had enough. "C'mon guys! Sitting around isn't going to answer our questions! We have to get up and start investigating!" Everyone's heads sprung up, surprised by her sudden outburst. Nodding in agreement, they began to regain the use of their voices.

"Ahem, Ok, maybe we should begin by researching thing about the BEGA Building. Anything about secret entrances, how long ago it was built, who designed it, who built it, all of that stuff. Tell me what you find and I'll record all of it on the laptop." Hiro spoke up, taking charge of the situation, his voice still a little raspy from not being used in a while. Giving their acknowledgements, the team headed off to find any scorches of information.

Fumika's hands ached, the back of her neck also hurting. Her eyes felt very tired too, as they stung and drooped. She had stayed up all night, finding practically nothing useful on the computer in Ming-Ming's room. "We need to get you a computer for your room…" Ming-Ming's voice drifted into Fumika's barely conscious mind. Not bothering to reply, she continued the tedious task that had been assigned to them. With a frustrated sigh, Ming-Ming flopped down onto her bed and turned to face her friend. "We've been awake all night researching and haven't found anything!" Fumika nodded, not taking her eyes away from the screen. Rolling her eyes, Ming-Ming got back up and resumed their fruitless research.

The two friends spent the whole morning just doing this, and when they finally got up to meet up with the rest of the team, their eyes were so red and so sore that it was difficult to see properly. Almost walking into a wall, Fumika stopped to rub her stinging eyes. Ming-Ming decided to do the same, her eyes also stinging furiously.

"Ah, what may you to be doing here?" Boris' fake gentle voice rang in their ears. Surprised, both looked up and saw the purple-haired man looking at them with fake preoccupation. It took all of Fumika's self-control not to growl at him like a wild beast. Seemingly oblivious to the mounted tension, Ming-Ming replied cheerfully. "Oh, we were just on our way to the-" A hand clamped over her mouth, stopping her from finishing her sentence. "We're just going to train and… um, well, we're getting much better and… err, it's a surprise!" Fumika remedied a little quickly. "Ahem, yes, we are working super hard and you'll be surprised at how much better we've gotten!" Added Ming-Ming brightly, catching on to Fumika's idea. Smiling at them in an eerily pleasant way, Boris eyed them somewhat carefully. "Oh, I see. Well then, I won't keep you. Now go, train." His imperious, commanding voice echoing slightly in the space. Nodding, Fumika turned to leave, followed by Ming-Ming who raised her voice to reply to Boris over her shoulder. "Yes, Sir!"

Eventually, the two friends arrived at the lobby and entered. The rest of the team was already there, all of their features reflecting Fumika and Ming-Ming's tired ones. Fumika told them about the excuse that she had made to Boris in the corridor and how now he probably expected them to be very powerful. She grinned sheepishly as they all shot her glares, minus Ming-Ming, who also received some of her own.

Soon enough, Ming-Ming both found out that the other's nights had been very similar to theirs, having found practically nothing. Hiro encouraged them to keep looking, though he hadn't found much himself either.

They trained for pretty much the whole day, and after the last training session, Fumika headed outside to get some fresh air. Her legs carried her to the forest that separated the town in which the BEGA Building was and her home village. She broke into a jog, and then to a run, the trees whizzing through her vision as green blurs. She hadn't run like this in a while, and enjoyed the feeling of the wind against her face. For the first time since the hour in which she ran to the bakery to get the bread, she felt almost, truly free.

She noticed the trees beginning to thin out. Remembering that her home village was at the end of it, she stopped, turned, at ran back. A grin pulled at the edges of her lips, threatening to overcome her current, somewhat emotionless expression. Eventually, she gave in and let her trademark hyperactive grin appear on her face. All worries forgotten she continued to run through the forest. She hadn't run as far as the village's park so the painful tug at her heart wasn't too powerful.

Another set of pounding feet joined hers as a figure began to accompany her. Turning to face them, Fumika almost fell over with shock. "Mystel?" He just looked at her, and continued to run. "Mind if I run with you?" She barely heard him, for he hadn't been facing her when he asked. Turning her head slightly in his direction, she replied with an equally quiet voice. "Sure," the faint starting of a grin began to appear on Mystel's face as they continued to run side-by-side.

Before long, the two were engaged in an intense race. Not only were they running on the ground, but jumping on the roofs of small houses and leaping through the occasional trees. Still recovering from her ankle, Fumika took it easier than Mystel, keeping to the ground more than him. As the BEGA Building came into sight, the two quickened their already fast pace.

Mystel reached the building a second before Fumika did, though she insisted that she only lost because of her ankle. "Sure, sure," was Mystel's reply. Shrugging slightly, Fumika slipped into silence.

_'Scorpio, have you found anything?'_

_'No, sorry. I was only able to confirm that the device the creature came out of had a make-up similar to that of a bit-chip.'_

Mentally thanking Scorpio, Fumika passed the information on to Mystel, who promised to tell the rest of the team next time he saw them. As they made their way through the building's winding corridors, the two lapsed into a thoughtful silence.

Upon reaching their parting point, Fumika leaned over and gave her companion a quick hug and then walked off in the direction of her room. Leaving him standing, stunned, in the middle of the corridor. A few moments after she had gone, Mystel cracked a small smile and turned around, heading to his room.

Trudging down to the lobby, Fumika sighed wearily as her muscles screamed in protest. Opening the door, the sound of its complaining hinges trickling into her ears, she made her way to one of the sofas. Picking up a laptop, she sat on the sofa and set it on her lap, pressing the ON button with much more force than needed. Waiting for it to load up, she let her gaze wander around the room, scanning the screens of her teammates. Finding nothing of particular interest, she turned back to her radiant screen and tapped her foot impatiently as she continued to wait.

In the end, she sat there staring at yet another useless website, feel in a strong sense of deja-vu. Tempted to close the web browser, she stretched her arms, yawning widely. Slumping back down onto the sofa, she set her uncomfortable, stinging eyes on the screen. A hazy, glazed-over expression placed itself firmly on her face as she continued to click away.

Yet another pointless website presented itself before her tired eyes. Scanning the text quickly and finding nothing of interest, she sighed and moved her cursor up to the 'Back' icon. Clicking on it, she allowed herself another scan of the page before it completely disappeared. A small link in the corner caught her eye. Unfortunately, before she could do anything, she was taken back to the previous page. Clicking on the link again, she waited for it to load up, again. Relocating the minuscule link that had piqued her curiosity, she moved the cursor to it and clicked.

Information spilled down the page as it loaded up, much to the relief of a very impatient Fumika. Something about this webpage set her on edge as she began to read it. Everything she found was pretty useless, until another, smaller link caught her eye. Curious, she clicked. A small box came up, asking for a password. Looking up, she spoke, "Anyone here good with hacking?" Her team's surprised faces turned to face her.  
"Well, I'm not very good but I do know a thing or two about it, why?" Hiro answered, being the first to snap out of his surprise. "I may not know as much as Hiro, but I know a little." Was Garland's reply. The rest merely shook their heads, indicating that they were no better than her in that subject. Hiro and Garland set down their laptops and walked over to Fumika, asking her how she had come across the password box. Fumika explained what had happened fairly quickly to them and then let them take control of the password hacking.

Hours seemed to pass before Garland and Hiro handed her the laptop back. "Erm… Sorry, we kinda weren't able to hack it…" Garland told her apologetically.  
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure we'll get it eventually," Fumika replied, smiling at them both thankfully.

As they all retook their previous positions in the room, the clicking and tapping from the laptops became the only thing that pierced the silence. Biting her bottom lip in thought, Fumika began to guess at the password.

_'Hmm… If it has anything to do with the BEGA, then maybe I should attempt passwords centrated around that topic…'_

_'I could help if you wish, Fumi,'_

Fumika was overjoyed to hear Scorpio call her by her nickname. After all, her friends called her Fumi and only her family ever called her Mika.

_'You can really do that?'_

Scorpio filled her mind with his hearty laugh upon hearing her incredulous question.

_'Sure I can, just take my bit-chip out of the blade for a minute,'_

Rummaging around in her pocket, Fumika eventually extracted the blade and gently pried out the Bit-chip that depicted Scorpio.

_'Ok, now just set me beside the laptop and I'll do the rest.'_

_'I wonder why you never told me earlier, it would have saved a lot of time…'_

Scorpio laughed again as Fumika placed the chip next to the laptop as she had been instructed to. A small electrical current connected the chip to one of the laptop's entrance ports. Turning to look back at the screen, Fumika's eyes widened in surprise when she saw the password already being entered. The black dots that represented letters were summed up to six in total. Once the password was in and a new page was loading, Scorpio was already back in his blade.

_'Oh yeah, what was the password in the end?'_

Fumika's curiosity was too strong to be ignored this time.

_'Never mind, I'll tell you later.'_

Came Scorpio's quick reply. Confused by her companion's fast answer, Fumika decided to sate her curiosity later and returned her attention to the almost loaded screen.

Her eyes met a white page with little black words on it. She thought that the site was a little plain until she began to read. She was surprised to find a bit more than a little information on the BEGA Building. She read on, hoping to find something, anything, truly useful. As her tired eyes began to reach the bottom of the screen, a small bit of text caught her attention. Setting her eyes on it, she began to read furiously. What she read provoked her jaw to hang down in shock, her head stationary as she tried to take in the information that she had just acquired. Once she had registered it in her head somewhat and was sure that she was able to use her voice, she attempted to tell her team. "G… guys… come here for a second…" Sensing that something was wrong, the team hurried over to her side. In mute silence, she pointed at the screen, directing all of their gazes to it. A few moments passed, in which the team was still reading the top few paragraphs. Fumika waited, anxious for their reactions. Eventually, a few gasps were heard, soon followed by even more. By now, they were all staring at the screen wide-eyed.

Ming-Ming tried to speak. "W… wait, so does that mean that…?" Unable to finish, she fell back into silence. Without letting their gazes waver, the whole team nodded in response. Now this, no-one had expected.


End file.
